Developmental
by pretense
Summary: An unexpected thing happens to Kazuma one night… Now he doesn’t know what to do… He can’t tell anyone about it, but then how could they help him in solving this problem... Shounenai. Don’t like, don’t read. COMPLETE & REPOSTED!
1. Chapter 1

**BloodLust**: Ooooookaaay… Yakitate Fic as requested by my "special" cough cough Hahawe (Joyce-chan! Ohayou! XD)! Also for my Aniwe (ANIWE! waves like an idiot) and Itoko (Joami! jumps up and down)… eheheh… sorry, kind of on sugar high today… sweatdrop

Please read: YAOI, umm just Lemon, I think… not really sure yet, but hey come _on_ how the hell would you expect me to make a LIME in Yakitate? I mean, it's just so… innocent… .

**Developmental**

**Chapter One:**

Kazuma was slowly making his way home. He was feeling _really_ tired, seeing as it was already about 10 in the evening.

_WHAT_ was he doing outside at ten in the evening you might ask… It has something today with the days, um, events… you may say…

Today was Kyosuke and Tsukino's 3rd month anniversary. Or in other words, they have been boyfriend/girlfriend for three months already! And because of this they had a little celebration; that is if 'little' can be used to describe an all day party that started from after their work until 10 that evening…

Kazuma cleared his thoughts and continued to walk home.

He was passing an eerie looking dark alleyway when a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. He turned around to face the person but due to the darkness and shadows he wasn't able to see much.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here…?" a deep mocking voice drawled from the shadows.

Kazuma blinked a few times and shook the man's hand off his shoulders saying "Sorry, mister, but I don't really talk to strangers. I've gotta go now. Bye"

He excused himself and went on his way but he hadn't even taken two steps when two muscular men stepped in front of him blocking his path.

"Heheheh… Don't think that you'd get away that easily, kid…" the one who seemed to be their boss said as the other two frog marched Kazuma to a wall. As the two backed away, the leader came forward and put both his hands on either sides of Kazuma's head.

Kazuma was really scared, more terrified than he had ever been in his whole life. His mind was currently on panic mode, really confused on what he should do in his current situation. With nothing else in mind, he did the only thing that came into his mind: he screamed.

However, the guy in front of him placed his hands on Kazuma's mouth to shut him off. But his intuition worked and Kazuma bit his mouth of his 'attacker'. He tried to scream again, but he suddenly felt a hard object like metal hitting him on the head and then everything went black and he lost consciousness.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

'Uuhhh… Whe-where am I?' Kazuma thought to himself as he slowly gained consciousness. It was still dark, probably past midnight already, and he found himself in a somewhat familiar street, it seems like he has been here before.

He made to stand up but found that his legs were kind of weak. It was then that he remembered what had just happened before he lost consciousness. The men… The dark alleyway… His being knocked into unconsciousness… The zipper of his pants being unzipped…

That was when realization hit him.

Kazuma just sat there on the side walk immobile while the information was processed in his brain. _Wh-What…? How could it have happened…? WHY? Why did it have to be him of all people? It just couldn't be true! No… It couldn't…_

Tears started to flow from Kazuma's caramel-colored eyes. He just couldn't help it. It just seemed too hard to believe… His whole body began to shake as he sobbed more and more. His shaking hands slowly went to his pants and zipped up the zipper. He tried to stand up once again but failed and he was back on the cold hard cemented floor. He tried to calm down a little but he just couldn't. So with all his strength he managed to stand up and lean on a wall to support his weight.

He then started to think of where he was and from whom he could get help at this time of the night. He tried to push away his previous thoughts but it seemed futile as tears continued to flow from his eyes. With his strength slowly draining he suddenly remembered where he was… No wonder it seemed familiar, he, Kyosuke, and Shigeru had already walked this path before, it was when they were going to Shigeru's apartment. He immediately tried to remember where Shigeru's house was, he remembered that there was a store then you turn left at the corner and that it was the third one from the corner. He looked up and saw that he was already in front of the apartment. His slow and painful ascend to the third floor of the apartment began and by the time he reached the said floor, he was already drained of all his energy. But he felt a drop of joy as he saw that the lights in Shigeru's apartment were still open. He unsteadily walked towards the door and knocked wearily.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

Shigeru yawned and rubbed his eyes, he was still on his laptop researching about yeasts. He leaned back and closed his eyes for a bit. He opened his eyes and turned to look at the clock on his wall, it read 12:37 a.m. Shigeru yawned once again, stood up and stretched his arms and legs.

'Well, better get some sleep… I still have to go to work at the Southern Tokyo Branch tomorrow… Although I don't really think that the others will go to work… Seeing as we had an all night party until 10 pm… All of them could be dead-tired from the party…' Shigeru thought as he saved his documents and was shutting down the laptop when he heard a quiet knock from his door.

'Now who could that be at this time of the night…?' Shigeru asked himself. But he went and answered the door nonetheless and what he saw surprised him…

There on his doorstep was Kazuma! Although he didn't look like he did about two hours ago during the celebration… His clothes were somewhat dirty and there were some tears on its edges… Kazuma himself had some slight bruises on his arms… And he was panting as if he was really _really_ exhausted…

"Shi-Shigeru…" was all Kazuma had managed to say before he collapsed. Shigeru was alert and had caught Kazuma before he hit the floor.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**BloodLust: **SoOoOoOoOoOoOoO? What do you think? Hmm? Please Review… Flames are most definitely welcomed! XD (I'm being too nice, ne?)


	2. Chapter 2

**BloodLust**: weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Second chappie already! I'm soo happy… TTwTT ( tears of joy…)

Ok just a little correction on my previous chappie… it seems that I misused the terms "lime" and "lemon" gomen, the meanings were opposite. And so, now that I've fully understood the terms, this will be just lime or the one of the less explicit sort… until further notice, it will all depend on the ideas that my plot bunny put into my head…

And aniwe: here, HERE is the stupid second chappie already so please, _please_, _**PLEASE **_enough w/ the 'Gojyo' and 'Muraki' stuff… I DIDN'T **REALLY** MEAN WHAT I'VE SAID IN THE GYM! **I DIDN'T MEAN IT!** waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh ToT

-cough cough- Anyways, on with the fic… Sorry it took so long… T.T

**Developmental**

**Chapter Two:**

"Shi-Shigeru…" was all Kazuma had managed to say before he collapsed. Shigeru was alert and had caught Kazuma before he hit the floor. Kazuma's head fell onto Shigeru's chest as Shigeru's arms went around under his arms to hold him properly. Seeing as Kazuma is already asleep, or at least half-asleep, Shigeru half-dragged him to his bed and lay him there.

It was then that Shigeru had a more close-up look upon Kazuma. He saw that there were sweat on his face and arms as if he had ran 100 meters or something. His breathing was rather ragged, but it slowly became normal as he fell into deep slumber. He also saw small wounds on Kazuma's arms, although he decided that he should just ask the teen later in the morning as he already felt rather drowsy.

"Oyasumi(1), Kazuma… " and with that Shigeru grabbed a couple of pillows and a blanket and decided to sleep on the couch as Kazuma was currently occupying his bed.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

The next morning…

Kazuma slowly blinked his eyes open, as a bright ray of light was streaming through the window and directly at his face. He sat up and found that he was in a bed, with a blanket covering his body and soft white pillows where he was previously resting his head. His aching body from last night felt refreshed. He looked around the room; it wasn't _his_ room, that's for sure… He then remembered that he went to Shigeru's apartment last night. 'More like _crawled_ towards it…' he thought to himself, quickly got up from the bed and fixed it before he went out of the room.

He found Shigeru sleeping soundly on the couch, one of his arms dangling off it. Kazuma just smiled and moved towards Shigeru and put Shigeru's arm on his side and covered him more with the blanket. It was then that he remembered about last night… A downcast look formed on his face and he couldn't help the tears that had started form in his eyes at the mere memory of it. His hands formed into fists and his body began to shake as he became furious at how he couldn't do anything about it… why he didn't do anything about it… why no one heard his cries… why no one helped him... and why of all people did it happen to him… Immersed in his thoughts, he didn't notice Shigeru who was slowly stirring and was starting to wake up.

Shigeru woke up feeling albeit tired but nonetheless refreshed… He was surprised to hear a person beside him… weeping… He glanced to his side and saw that it was Kazuma… tears were uncontrollably rolling down the other teen's face and he seemed to be shaking with fury, as he was staring at the floor with a kind of hatred or something…

"Kazuma…" Shigeru said as he moved to a sitting position on the couch. Kazuma quickly looked up at him, trying to wipe his tears as he did so. "Are you alright?" Shigeru asked him, full of concern.

Kazuma just nodded his head and put on a smile "Yeah, I'm alright…"

"No you aren't!" Shigeru protested. "You were crying just now Kazuma, why?"

Kazuma looked away from Shigeru and bit his lip. He didn't know if he should tell anyone about last night, it made him feel really bad just thinking about it, what more if he actually told it to someone else… Although telling someone your problems does help you in not carrying the burden by yourself, and knowing Shigeru, he's always there to help in any way he can… But still… Kazuma sighed, he was really just confused… He felt… _dirty_… and he was really ashamed of himself because of it… He was too deep in his thoughts that he wasn't aware of the happenings around him.

Shigeru was looking at Kazuma… Staring at the expression that was _very rarely_ seen on the brunet's face… sadness… depression… loneliness… Kazuma was a very cheerful person… very cheerful indeed, he was always optimistic about things… but now, he looked really dispirited…

Shigeru didn't know what made him do it, but the next thing he knew was that he was kneeling on the floor beside Kazuma and he had pulled Kazuma into a warm embrace.

Kazuma felt surprised at the sudden contact… he didn't know what to do… But then Shigeru said "Kazuma… Don't feel too bad… You shouldn't keep your problems to yourself, you know… I'm always here ready to help… Kyosuke, Tsukino, and Manager are also there for you… If you need to cry, don't try to stop it, my shoulder is always here for you to cry on…"

Kazuma just stayed there in Shigeru's embrace… liking the feeling that someone was there to comfort him… he eventually melted into the embrace and tucked his head under Shigeru's chin and stayed there for a sometime while Shigeru held him close. And in a unique unexplainable way both felt really content with this.

But as they all say 'everything good has its end'; Shigeru slowly and somewhat reluctantly parted from Kazuma and held him by his shoulders at arm's length and said "You alright now?" Kazuma nodded and smiled slightly.

Glancing at the wall clock, Shigeru said, "Well, it looks like we'll be late for work today, Kazuma…"

"Oh and by the way… How are you gonna change? Are you still going to go back home or…" Shigeru left his question hanging as he stood up.

"Uh…" Kazuma said as he started to blush, he had also just realized it by now. "Erm… Ano…"

"Hmm, you can borrow some of my clothes for now…" Shigeru said decisively as he made his way to his room "I'll just prepare them on the bed, you can just watch the TV or something while I shower and change clothes…"

"How 'bout if I cook breakfast?" Kazuma suggested.

"Ok then" Shigeru said as he showed Kazuma his kitchen and then left for the shower.

While Shigeru was taking a bath, Kazuma was busy cooking their breakfast. He really wanted to repay Shigeru for all of his help. And, well, since he didn't really know how to cook anything but bread, he just decided to make Japan (please insert random Japan # here…).

He washed his hands in the sink and began to look for the ingredients, which were all surprisingly present in Shigeru's kitchen cupboards. With all the ingredients present, he began to make his Japan.

Meanwhile, in the shower, Shigeru was deep in thought of what Kazuma's problem could be… Even his brilliant mind couldn't think of an answer, therefore, he just shook it out of his mind and began to wash himself.

When Shigeru was done, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist; he also grabbed another towel and draped it on his shoulders (A/N: having a major nosebleed here… , ). He then went out of the bathroom and saw Kazuma in the kitchen waiting for the food, or in his case bread, to be cooked.

He then called out to Kazuma. "Hey, Kazuma, I'm done in showering now. Your turn." Kazuma turned to him and felt a light pink hue creep up on his cheeks "Oh, um, ok…"

Shigeru had taken a few steps when he remembered something "Oh, and by the way, Kazuma, don't forget to wash those wounds on your arms… I saw them last night and they might require a bit of cleaning… I'll nurse them later after you shower, ok?" Kazuma smiled inwardly and said "Ok!" and with that he went into the bathroom and had his bath.

Hot droplets of water were sprinkling on his body as he stood beneath the shower, having far away thoughts on his mind… He still couldn't take the thought off of his mind, I mean come on! Who would easily forget such a thing! However, he shouldn't show up at work like that, the others, just like Shigeru, would be worried about him and he didn't like to make them worry. So he'll just have to put on a smiling face, hoping that they wouldn't notice the depression beneath the smiling and seemingly happy façade. And with that thought in mind, he began washing himself, wincing slightly when he washed his arms due to the wounds. After washing himself properly he got a towel, wrapped it around his waist, and went out of the bathroom.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

"Ow! that hurts…" Kazuma winced slightly as Shigeru gently cleaned his wounds. They had already finished breakfast and were now sitting in the living room with a first aid kit beside them.

"Sorry, Kazuma but I can't do anything about it… That's just how medicine works…" Shigeru said as he applied a bandage on the last of Kazuma's wounds. He then stood up and returned the first aid kit to his medicine cabinet and then he got his apartment keys from his bedroom. "Hey Kazuma we should really be going now… We're already 50 minutes late…"

Kazuma nodded and went out of the apartment, followed by Shigeru, who locked the door and then pocketed his keys.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

"Kazuma! Shigeru! Thank goodness you two are safe... I've been so worried of you two…" Tsukino immediately said the moment that she saw the two artisans enter the bakery.

"Nice to see you too, Tsukino… Sorry for being late, by the way…" Shigeru said as he went to their lockers where put on his uniform over his clothes.

Meanwhile Kazuma was being interrogated by Tsukino about the wounds… or rather the bandages… on his arms.

"Eheheh… Well, you see… I kinda had an accident earlier… I sort of tripped and well… um… Shigeru kinda saw it… And he took me to the store to buy some bandages for my wounds… So it also kinda explains why we were both late…" Kazuma lied sheepishly.

Tsukino, however, had bought his excuse and just told Kazuma to be more careful next time.

Kazuma then excused himself and went to their lockers to get his uniform, he found Shigeru there and decided to talk to him.

"Um, Shigeru…"

Shigeru looked at him with a questioning look on his face.

"Please... don't tell anyone about… you know… last night… I don't want to make them worry about me… So please…"

Shigeru sighed and nodded. There was nothing that he could do… Kazuma smiled slightly and put up his façade of joyfulness.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

Closing time came all too soon, and the Pantasia workers found themselves saying their good-byes to each other and making their own ways home.

Shigeru had already turned his back and was already walking away when someone called his name; he turned around and looked behind him. He saw Kazuma standing there with an uneasy expression on his face.

"Hai… What is it, Kazuma?" Shigeru asked.

"Um… Nothing… Just thanks and… um, good night…" Kazuma said with a slight smile and turned away.

Shigeru, however, didn't buy his answer and walked up to Kazuma. "Hmm… You know, you're not really good at lying Kazuma…" Shigeru said when he was already behind Kazuma who automatically turned around due to surprise.

"E-eh…? What do you mean, Shigeru?" Kazuma said.

"Come on… You can tell me…" Shigeru said insistently.

"It's really nothing for you to worry about, Shigeru… _Really_…" Kazuma said when Shigeru looked at him disbelievingly.

However, Kazuma had to give in… He just couldn't take Shigeru staring at him like that… He muttered something incoherently.

"Kazuma, please speak louder…" Shigeru said not quite understanding what Kazuma had whispered.

Kazuma gulped and said with much stuttering "C-can you… a-accompany me… in going home… b-because… I-I'm… kind of… um… afraid…"

Shigeru just blinked at him, but then comprehension dawned upon him "It has something to do with that incident of yours last night, doesn't it?"

Kazuma was stunned, how could Shigeru have known that? "H-how did y-you…-"

"Relax, Kazuma, I don't _really_ know about it… I just sort of _guessed_ it…" Shigeru explained. 'So it _does_ have something to do with what happened to him' Shigeru thought to himself.

"Oh…" Kazuma said, feeling a little relieved that Shigeru, or anyone else for that matter, didn't know about it… He didn't know what he would do if they found out about it…

"Oi! Kazuma…" Kazuma was brought back to reality when Shigeru called out to him. He was surprised to see that Shigeru was already a few feet behind him with his hands on his pockets. "Are you coming or what? I thought you wanted me to accompany you home…?" Shigeru said with a smile on his face. Kazuma beamed and ran towards him, glad that he wouldn't be alone… He didn't want to walk home alone again after what had previously happened to him… And so he and Shigeru walked towards his apartment side by side…

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

(1) _Oyasumi_ – 'Good night'

**BloodLust: **so what do you think… is it okay? I personally think that it's kind of inadequate of some sort… I hope that it was better than the first one… . hugs plushie Please review and/or flame (whatever you like…) Aniwe sorry if I just updated the second chappie… I'm still not happy with the third chapter yet, I'm still overlooking it and changing it a little… I'll just update it when I'm finally happy with it and it has no more errors, ok? Arigatou for reading…


	3. Chapter 3

**BloodLust**: okay… chappie #3 already, as _requested_ by Aniwe… (hint 'request'; sound familiar Aniwe…? –evil grin- -cough**rikuesuto**cough- XD)

Anyways, still getting evil thoughts in my head… although it will still be a few chapters from here where they'll appear… XD

Anyways please enjoy the fic… Also this and chappie four (and I think five is sort of too…) could be some sort of a 'side-story' in the fic so please just bear with me for a while… I do plan to make, um, 'developments' in said chappies…

Aniwe HERE is chappie three! Deal with it… XD

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**Developmental**

**Chapter Three:**

Shigeru woke up feeling a little bit ill, but he just didn't mind it. He got out of bed and stretched. As he began on his usual daily routine his thoughts wandered to last night's events…

_(Flashback…)_

Kazuma and Shigeru were walking towards Kazuma's apartment in silence when Kazuma suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, Shigeru…"

"Huh…?" was Shigeru's disconcerted reply.

Kazuma was looking at him through a side way view with a smile on his lips. "Why don't we have dinner together…? Come on, it's my treat…"

"Ano… I'm not really su-" Shigeru tried to excuse himself but Kazuma suddenly clung to his arm and pouted at him.

"Aww… Please Shigeru…" Kazuma pleaded "I need to repay you somehow for not telling the others AND you also agreed to accompany me… _So come on… Please_…"

Shigeru still looked indecisive, so Kazuma decided to use his last and most irresistible strategy: the puppy dog eyes. (A/N: KAWAII! XD)

And so, like all those unfortunate people who had the puppy dog eyes used on them, Shigeru agreed once again to Kazuma's requests. They went to a restaurant and had their dinner there. Kazuma paid for all their bills despite Shigeru's constant protests about it.

And after their dinner, they continued towards Kazuma's apartment. However about two blocks from said destination heavy rain started to pour upon them.

Shigeru had started to run for cover but then he realized that Kazuma was not with him. He looked back and saw Kazuma just a few feet from him standing there in the rain. Shigeru quickly receded towards Kazuma.

"Oi! Kazuma… Come on… We need to find shelter… Don't just stand under the rain like that…" Shigeru said to Kazuma but Kazuma didn't seem to want to go out of the rain yet and just stood there.

Shigeru was getting wetter by the minute and really wanted to find shelter already but he can't just leave Kazuma standing there, so he grabbed Kazuma by his hand and ran towards the nearest refuge from the rain that he could find.

Kazuma was surprised when someone took hold of his hand and began to drag him away, but although he didn't want to go yet, he also didn't want to lose his balance and fall down on the ground so he just ran along with the person whom he had guessed to be Shigeru. And just thinking about that made a pink hue appear on Kazuma's cheeks.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

They were about to run further when Kazuma stopped and so did Shigeru. Shigeru looked at him with an expression that clearly said 'What?'

"My apartment's just over there…' Kazuma shouted while pointing to the opposite direction. "It's just one block away… Come on…" And with that he began to run towards the said direction, pulling Shigeru along with him.

They reached Kazuma's apartment in less than five minutes and were already standing on the porch, soaking wet, while Kazuma opened the door. They went inside and closed the door behind them, their backs slid down the door as exhaustion came over them. Both of them had their eyes closed and were breathing heavily as their sweat, mixed with the rain, trickled down their arms and faces.

Shigeru had never been this tired in his whole life… He felt that all his energy was drained from him… His eyes slowly fluttered open… He wearily raised his hand to wipe some of the sweat and rain water on his face; however he noticed that his hand was linked with another's hand.

His eyes quickly followed the connection and he found himself looking directly at Kazuma who was just staring back at him with a quite surprised expression on his face. And the next thing he knew was that he was gazing intently at Kazuma as Kazuma continued staring at him. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Kazuma had the courage to break his gaze and look away from Shigeru, he then reluctantly disengaged their entwined hands as his face began to flush. Meanwhile Shigeru was starting to collect himself and was starting to blush as well. 'Well this is getting awkward…' Shigeru thought to himself.

Kazuma then stood up and went to his room; Shigeru just looked at his retreating form and continued to sit there hugging his knees. Kazuma then returned with two towels, one of which he was already using to dry himself. He gave the other one to Shigeru who stood up, accepted it and said thanks.

"Well, then… I should be going now…" Shigeru said once he had properly dried himself (well in reality he just dried off his hair, his clothes are still sort of wet…). "You're already home whereas I still have to get to my house… Ja, Kazuma…" Shigeru was already about to go out when Kazuma stopped him.

"But Shigeru it's still raining…" Kazuma said worriedly.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm gonna get home fine…"

Kazuma still looked doubtful "Well it's your decision… but either way… here." Kazuma handed Shigeru an umbrella.

Shigeru gave a small smile. "Thanks…" And with that he went out into the rain and began to walk home.

_(End Flashback…)_

Shigeru was already changing his clothes; having already finished eating and showering, and he will soon be going off to work.

Mid-way through his shirt Shigeru thought about Kazuma… 'What could've happened to him…? I hope that he didn't get sick or anything…'

After he had finished dressing up he got his apartment keys and also the umbrella that Kazuma had lent him and went out of his apartment, heading towards the Pantasia Southern Tokyo Branch.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

When he came into the Pantasia Southern Tokyo branch, he was surprised to see that Kazuma wasn't there… Kazuma usually came to work earlier than him. However he decided not to worry about it too much, Kazuma might just be late or something… So he just changed into his uniform and began to bake bread for the store.

However, noon came and went but still, Kazuma hadn't showed up. This made Shigeru a little bit more worried.

Suddenly the telephone rang.

"Shigeru would you mind to answer the phone please…? I'm kinda busy right now…" Tsukino said from the other side of the store.

"Okay…"

Shigeru went to answer the phone. "Good afternoon, Pantasia Southern Tokyo Branch… Kanmuri Shigeru speaking… Who is it…?" (A/N: I don't really think that the greeting is right… would anyone mind to tell how it's supposed to be…? O.o)

A feeble voice came from the other end of the telephone. "Shigeru… I-it's Kazuma… sorry but I can't go to work today…"

Shigeru blinked and sat down on a chair. "Kazuma? What happened to you?"

"Eheheh… You see… I kinda caught a cold from last night and, well, this morning when I woke up I was feeling kind of feverish…-cough cough-"

"Hmm, seems like you also have cough Kazuma…" Shigeru commented when he heard Kazuma's coughing.

"Erm… yeah… that to… -sniff sniff- So, um, I'm not really sure when I can be going back to work… Inaho came earlier and said that I may take a while to recover… She's now taking care of me… Speaking of which, I gotta go now, if Inaho sees me up from bed she'll probably kill me… Bye!"

"Oh… okay then… Get well soon Kazuma…" Shigeru said as he hung up the phone.

'So that's why he isn't at work today…' Shigeru thought to himself. 'I hope that he'll recuperate soon…'

"Hey Shigeru, who was it who had called?" Tsukino asked when she went into the room.

Shigeru looked up and replied. "Oh, it was Kazuma… He fell ill and said that he won't be going to work until he recovers from his sickness… He also said not to worry because his sister, Inaho, is taking good care of him…"

"Aww, Poor Kazuma… Do you know what his sickness is?" Tsukino asked.

"Well, he has a cold and cough, and he also said that he was pretty feverish…" Shigeru said.

Tsukino just sighed. "I hope that Kazuma will get better soon…"

'You're not the only one, Tsukino…' Shigeru thought to himself.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**BloodLust**: Thank you for reading! Please review… :D

Anyway, still gotta go and rest myself… having just read a 76-page FanFic in 3 hours straight… -yawn- add in a few revisions and re-writings… plus, the fanfics that have updated and I needed to read… -sigh- X3

Oh and by the way, before I forget, how do Tsukino and the others address Inaho? Kindly tell me since I'll be using it in the next chapter, thanks very much! Ja… -grabs plushie and drops dead… uhh, I mean falls asleep, yeah, asleep-


	4. Chapter 4

**BloodLust**: Chappie number 4 already! YAY! _Finally…_ At last the exams are through so to celebrate I've updated my beloved Developmental… XD

Plus, I think that I've gone loco over the exams... For one thing I did'nt really review, I mean I just skimmed my notes and that's it! Also I didn't review for the final day of exams, coz I was kinda busy drawing and coloring Judai on my folder... XD And now I'm talking to him like he's a real person (like: "Hey, Judai, you know the Filipino exam was a real pain in the behind... Lots and I mean LOTS of essays... I swear I'm gonna fail that one... -hugs piccy-") I'm really insane I know...

Also please prepare a knife, blade, lance, spear or any other random material for killing since you may need one later on… This chappie is kinda… well… I just hope that you readers will find it in yourselves to forgive me… That's all that I can say for now… I'm making it sound too bad, ne?

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**Developmental**

**Chapter Four:**

3…

7…

10…

14 days had already passed but still Kazuma haven't gone to work yet.

Tsukino, Manager Ken and Shigeru were all very worried by now. Inaho had called in earlier and said that Kazuma's cough and cold had already subsided… although his fever was still very high. Manager then decided that they should go and visit Kazuma… The three of them left the store later that afternoon (at 4 pm to be exact), leaving Kageto to handle everything while they were away (as usual…).

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

Inaho was working in the kitchen when a sudden knock came from the front door.

"Coming…" She quickly dried her hands and set off towards the door. She was quite surprised to see Manager Ken, Tsukino and Shigeru standing at the doorstep.

"Good afternoon Inaho-san… I hope that we weren't bothering you or anything… But, you see, we are all very worried about Kazuma and we were wondering if we could pay him a visit… you know, to see how he is…" Tsukino said with a soft smile.

Inaho felt grateful for the concern that they were showing towards Kazuma and invited them into the house. She then showed them towards Kazuma's room where the teen was currently sleeping.

Kazuma's skin was paler than usual and beads of sweat hung around his face, which was contorted in pain.

The three visitors sat down beside Kazuma while Inaho fetched a basin of water and a face towel. She then sat down opposite the three, soaked the cloth in the lukewarm water, and began to wash Kazuma's face and neck. After that she returned the materials to the kitchen; her three guests keeping quiet all the while.

She then returned once again to the room and gave her guests a rather weary smile.

"Inaho-san, are you still alright?" Shigeru asked her seeing that she wasn't looking very well.

"Well, not really… I am feeling so tired right now, but still I need to take care of Kazuma…after all, he is my little brother…" Inaho replied.

"…Well, what else do you need to do?" Manager asked her.

"Um… Let's see… I still have to go to the grocery store to buy us some food… we're kinda running low on that…" Inaho said thoughtfully.

"Okay then! We're gonna do your grocery shopping for you so that you can spend the rest of the day resting!" Tsukino said excitedly.

"Eh?" Inaho didn't expect what Tsukino had just said.

"Come on, Inaho-san. You've been working too hard… Why don't you rest for a while and we'll take care of the things around here for you… It's the least we can do to help you take care of Kazuma…" came Tsukino's reply.

"But, speaking of Kazuma, who would watch over him if the three of you will do the shopping whereas I would be resting…?" Inaho asked them.

Tsukino looked at the other two and replied. "Shigeru will watch over him! Won't you, Shigeru?"

"Wha- Um, I mean, okay then…" Shigeru said, immediately changing his answer when Manager gave him a pointed look.

"Really? Oh, thank you all so much!" Inaho said, very relieved that someone would guard over Kazuma while she had some rest (which she wasn't really getting now a days…)

"Let's get going then!" Manager said as he stood up.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

A sigh escaped Shigeru's lips as he continued to stare at the wall in front of him. Tsukino and Manager had already been gone for an hour since Inaho gave them the list (which was very long, mind you) and they went out to buy the groceries. Meanwhile Inaho is now having her well-deserved rest in her room.

He had been watching over Kazuma and was checking Kazuma's fever every 20 minutes or so and still it hadn't gotten any better.

Having nothing else to do, Shigeru decided to, once again, check upon Kazuma's fever to see if it had gotten better; even though he knew it was hopeless since he had checked it only 15 minutes previously…

He felt Kazuma's forehead and as expected it was burning hot. He just sighed; there was nothing that he could do about it. He was about to remove his hand when…

"Nnnnhhhh… N-no… P-please don't…" came a sickly and hoarse voice.

Shigeru looked around him for another person but then he remembered that the only person in that room besides himself was Kazuma.

"Kazuma…?" Shigeru said uncertainly, leaning over the said teen.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

Kazuma had been awake for a while now although he had kept his eyes closed. He was still feeling very hot all over and at the same time very weak.

He suddenly felt a hand being placed on his forehead. Surely he'd gotten used to it by now but this time though, it felt _different_. It was warmer and it had a certain touch of gentleness to it; and only one explanation came to him: it wasn't Inaho.

He cautiously took a peek and opened his eyes a little so that he could somehow see. And although his vision wasn't very clear, he managed to see quite enough details before he quickly closed his eyes once again.

From what Kazuma had seen there seemed to be a sort of short pink blob, which he supposed to be the hair, atop a pale flesh color, which he had assumed to be skin. It (meaning the person) also seemed to be wearing a rather hazy navy blue shirt. And within milliseconds he had already thought of one person with those characteristics (after all how many people did he know who has pink hair?).

But before he could do anything, he felt the hand on his forehead move away and since he liked the feeling of it, he didn't want it to leave him yet… So he partially opened his mouth and said: "Nnnnhhhh… N-no… P-please stay…"

He felt delighted when the hand had stopped moving and didn't leave him. Suddenly a voice had said his name, a very familiar voice that he knew so well…

Kazuma gingerly opened his eyes partially. Thankfully though there wasn't much light, mostly because of the figure that was hovering above him, or else he would've been blind… wait… what!

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

Kazuma's eyes slowly opened. His vision was still kind of blurred but it was slowly beginning to have more focus.

The first thing that he noticed was Shigeru. Shigeru was leaning above him from his left side with a worried look on his face.

"Kazuma… Y-You're awake… Are you feeling alright?" Shigeru managed to say out from his momentary surprise at Kazuma's sudden awakening.

Kazuma gave him a weak smile, which was all that the sick teen could manage to show, although it was very far from what he was feeling right then. He had always felt _unusual _whenever Shigeru was around; so happy and peaceful and calm like there was nothing to worry about, nothing at all.

A sudden urge came over Kazuma… He looked Shigeru in the eyes. Shigeru saw that it wasn't the usual sick-person look that sick people give, it had a deep meaning within it; it was almost like Kazuma was asking him a question without saying a thing… And even though he hadn't figured out that part yet he found it very alluring.

Slowly, Kazuma raised his hands from his blanket. He then used them to hold onto the collar of Shigeru's shirt. Shigeru was slightly taken aback by this but he didn't do anything about it. Kazuma then pulled Shigeru closer to him. Shigeru lost his balance at this sudden action, but it was also due to shock; however, he regained his balance when he placed his hands flat on the floor on either side of Kazuma's head, bending his elbows a little as Kazuma continued to draw him closer.

(I should really stop the chappie at this part, ne:3 Hmm, maybe not… Aniwe would probably go find me and murder me on the spot, so I'll continue…)

Their faces were now mere centimeters apart that Shigeru could feel the heat emitted from Kazuma's body. He knew what was going to happen next but somehow he couldn't bring himself to prevent it, he just let Kazuma continue to pull him closer and closer until they were in such close proximity that Shigeru could feel Kazuma's hot breath against his lips.

Shigeru looked Kazuma directly in the eyes and found himself caught in Kazuma's intense gaze. He felt himself become at ease as he stared back at Kazuma, who seemed to have been enticing him without knowing it himself and he had fallen for it big time. He then lowered himself and closed the small gap between his and Kazuma's lips. It was quite an extraordinary experience to both of them that a simple brush of their lips could make them feel ecstasy; like they were soaring on cloud nine.

However, before they even had a chance to deepen their kiss, the sliding door on their side slid open and they quickly separated from each other and looked towards the door, although Shigeru was still hovering above Kazuma in their previous position. Inaho came into the room.

"Hey, Shigeru, I just wanted to check on – Uhh… Um, I think I came at a bad time… I-I'll just return later… I think…" Inaho said as she slowly backed out of the room once she saw the two teens in a rather, um, compromising position.

When Inaho had closed the door behind her, she could only come up with one thing: She was just seeing things… She was still probably asleep and dreaming… yeah, that would be it… it was just a dream… just a dream and nothing else… She is really, really, really tired after all… so maybe it was just a hallucination… With that thought in mind she went back to her room and fell onto the bed with a sigh.

Meanwhile, Kazuma and Shigeru were very both red in the face due to the previous incident. Shigeru had gotten his composure back and was sitting properly again on Kazuma's side, although he was looking at anything but Kazuma. Kazuma meanwhile was lying on his mat and was staring at the ceiling above him; he too couldn't look at the other teen in the room, he was constantly having a peculiar feeling every time their eyes would meet and then they would quickly look in the opposite direction, little did he know that Shigeru was having the same problem…

"Kazuma… I- Well… " Shigeru's heart was beating quickly, he could almost swear that it was about to break out from his chest. He was trying to explain but he couldn't even make a complete sentence.

Kazuma couldn't really face Shigeru just yet so he turned around so that his back was facing Shigeru. He then said in a quiet voice, "It was nothing… We should just forget about it… It was just a spur of the moment… Nothing else…" He then covered himself more with the blanket and hugged himself.

It really hurt Kazuma inside to say that… saying those things made him want to cry. He knew it to himself that it wasn't true… and he knew that he couldn't easily forget about it… he knew that it was wrong… it was just so wrong… and yet when he felt Shigeru's lips made contact with his, it just felt _so_ right… he couldn't really describe it… there wasn't enough words to describe it…

Shigeru had moved his hand to reach out to Kazuma but stopped mid-way when Kazuma spoke… Kazuma's word made him think… what had just happened? why… WHY did he just… he couldn't even say the word… he knew that they were both guys, so it somehow made him feel that it was _wrong…_ but why did he feel so… so… delighted… no, that one isn't even close… overwhelmed, yeah that would be fit… he felt that _it_ (referring to the 'incident') completed him… all those gaps within him… he actually felt somehow whole during that brief experience…

Suddenly something made him part from his thoughts, he felt Kazuma cry. He quickly moved closer to Kazuma, "What's wrong, Kazuma? Are you alright? Is it because of… the…" he gulped, he really couldn't bring himself to say the word but if that was what was bothering Kazuma then he'll have to say it, "the kiss…" he finished quietly.

He was surprised when Kazuma shook his head, it also made him fell more puzzled… If it wasn't because of _that_ then what could it be? His look softened when Kazuma turned towards him, tears streaming down his face… And somehow, it didn't alarm him when Kazuma wrapped his weak arms around his waist and buried his face on his chest, partially soaking his shirt. He just let the teen sob onto him, if this would help ease Kazuma's problem then it was okay with him, he then began to fondle slowly with Kazuma's back, stroking it gently to assure the boy that he was there. It made him feel at peace when Kazuma finally relaxed against him, the brunet's sobbing decreasing until it had stopped. He tried to remove Kazuma's arms on his waist but found that the other teen had clung onto him and it was clearly not in Kazuma's mind to let go of him just yet. He sighed and continued to caress Kazuma's hair, smiling a little when he felt Kazuma give a small sigh of relief and snuggle a bit closer to him…

"… Kazuma?" Shigeru asked after the teen had stopped crying for a while.

"… Yeah…"

"I… I want to know if… it was okay with you…" Shigeru said as he continued to fondle with the other teen's hair in an affectionate way, "… the kiss… or should I say, the _almost_ kiss…"

Kazuma raised his head to look at Shigeru.

Shigeru was staring at the ceiling with a wondering expression on his face, he suddenly noticed that Kazuma was looking at him and smiled a little… "Well…?"

Kazuma returned the smile and replaced his head on Shigeru's chest hugging Shigeru a bit more tighter. "… I don't really know, Shigeru… It's still confusing to me… But, I-" Kazuma stopped himself before he could say something else.

But Shigeru pressed on, "But…?"

Luckily, Kazuma already had his excuse, "… Well, its okay, I guess… I mean it didn't hurt, so… Let's just try not to tell anyone about it… if that's okay with you…"

Shigeru was quite stunned by Kazuma's ever-so-innocent reply, but nonetheless he was glad that Kazuma wasn't troubled with the kiss; perhaps it was better that way… So he just replied, "… Hmm, yeah… We shouldn't really let other people know about it…"

And with that they remained in comfortable silence…

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**BloodLust**: Okay so I KNOW that many of you are probably angry with me because of Inaho suddenly bursting in like that… And I'm not blaming you… I'm angry at myself too because of that, I mean, she just _had_ to go and check upon them… But my plot bunny was threatening me with a spork; a SPORK I tell you! And since I'm just a lowly authoress who follows my plot bunny's, well, plot… I HAD to put it in (_very_ reluctantly, I might add…)

Also I, myself, think that they've been a bit OOC in this chappie… Argh! So many mistakes –waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- The chappie's also a bit pointless for me... XP

I'm really depressed because of that, no matter I'll just make up for it in the future chappies… I hope… Stupid exams... Givin' me a stupid Writer's Block...

**Please criticize my work! I BEG OF YOU! TTwTT**

"JUDAI!" -cries endlessly while hugging the folder with Judai's pic-


	5. Chapter 5

**BloodLust**: I hope that you've all forgiven poor, poor me... Chappie 5 already and am still plotting other things, I actually have another Kazugeru fanfic in mind but it'll have to wait 'til later coz I still need to finish my beloved Developmental XD **(Please see the bottom part of my profile to see about the said other fic…)** And hopefully you readers will like this chappie… It's kinda fluffy at some point, and I hope that you'll forgive me for that -sigh- I'm getting worse and worse with each chappie… -bangs head on the wall- Judai… help…

But on a lighter scale,** I'VE FINALLY FINISHED WATCHING ALL OF THE YAKITATE JAPAN EPISODES!!! YAY!!**! -jumps up and down coz I'm suddenly on a hyper mode-

And can I just say that _somewhere_ in episode 65 is... well... kinda... -ehem ehem- (you know what I mean by this Aniwe...) Do you guys know/remember the scene where they were in the hot spring and Kazuma suddenly gets the idea to use bamboo leaves (or something like that, I don't particularly remember..) and then...-twitch twitch- I just don't get it... I mean I already know that Kazuma isn't the most knowledgeable guy in Japan, but heck! When I saw that I just... WTF?! anyways you can just watch the said part in YouTube if you guys don't remember it, but heck now its bugging me like crazy... -shiver- But whatever, Chappie Five... Please enjoy!!! XD

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**Developmental**

**Chapter Five:**

One hour and fifty-one minutes and counting… It was beginning to get darker seeing as it was already about 6 pm…

Suddenly the door slid open and two people stopped in their tracks… Eyes wide open and jaws dropping a little Tsukino and Manager were quite surprised, to say the least, at the scene that was before them…

Shigeru was lying on his back with one hand on his side while the other was placed on Kazuma's hair like he was stroking it. Kazuma had his head lying on Shigeru's chest; his arms were wrapped around Shigeru's middle with the blanket covering his body although it was already sort of misplaced. Needless to say, both were sound asleep.

Manager and Tsukino couldn't help but "Aww…" at the two before them… They were too cute to be ignored; it was a really pleasant sight to see… Suddenly, Tsukino got an idea. She searched through her bag until she found what she was looking for, and when she found it she cheered quietly. Manager Ken looked quizzically at her, but when she got out the object a sly smile appeared on both Tsukino and Manager's faces…

4 consecutive flashes lit up the room. Capturing the _beautiful_ scene… After having finished with their little 'scheme', Tsukino and Manager Ken left the two alone and went to look for Inaho to ask her where they should put the groceries they had bought…

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

Shigeru slowly opened his eyes… 'Wow, I must have fallen asleep… -yawn- I wonder if Manager and Tsukino have returned yet…' Shigeru tried to stand up (or sit up straight, for this matter) but then he noticed that he couldn't… That's when he noticed Kazuma who was still clinging on to him… He sighed and gave a small smile, he then lay back down and stared at the ceiling… He was surprised when someone had spoken…

"Oh, Shigeru, you're awake now, I see…"

Shigeru immediately looked at his side to see Inaho who was sitting there with a smile on her face. "Yeah… Oh and by the way Inaho-san, may I ask if Manager and Tsukino have returned yet?"

He really didn't understand why Inaho suddenly had a fit of giggles when he had asked that, however Inaho had eventually stopped and said, and "Tsukino and Manager have already returned Shigeru, an hour and a half ago that is"

Shigeru stared. Just stared. When he finally found his voice, he asked quite hesitantly, "… Inaho-san… what's- what's the time…?"

"It's already 7:30, Shigeru"

"Eh…? Oh God… Why didn't you wake me up? You could have at least woken me up… Crap…" Shigeru began to panic and was trying to get up when he remembered Kazuma. The other teen still had his arms around him.

Shigeru tried to remove Kazuma from him as gently as he could not wanting to wake up Kazuma but it seems that Kazuma was holding him in a vice grip and held him tighter when he tried to get him off. He finally gave up and turned to look at Inaho who had an amused look on her face.

"Inaho-san, would you mind helping me here?"

"Sorry, Shigeru but by the looks of it, Kazuma doesn't want to let go yet… Besides it isn't _that_ late yet, it's just 7:30 pm..." Inaho said with traces of laughter.

Shigeru just slapped his forehead with his hand.

"... And... I rarely see him look so peaceful…"

Inaho's sentence made Shigeru look at her, she wasn't in the joking mood that she had been a while ago.

"… Shigeru…" Inaho looked directly at Shigeru, "I would like you to do me a favor… Can you please stay here for the night…? Please… For Kazuma's sake…" Inaho stood up from her sitting position and walked towards the pair and began to stroke Kazuma's hair. " I just noticed that he seems to be always happy or if not, he's always contented whenever you're around… And I just want him to stay like this, even for a day… I also checked his fever and it had gone down to only 37.2 degree Celsius from 37.9… So I'm really grateful to you… So can you stay?" she said it all with sincerity. (A/N: I really don't know those medical stuff so I just guessed about that part…)

Shigeru didn't know half of what Inaho had said. 'Really?' was all that came to his mind. "Well… Um… Okay then…"

Inaho beamed at him but then she remembered something 'Oh crap, the food!' She quickly got up and said to Shigeru. "Shigeru, since it's already dinnertime, would you mind waking up Kazuma for me… Thanks! I still gotta prepare the food…" After Shigeru said that it was okay, Inaho left the room, leaving the two so that she can prepare their dinner.

Shigeru gently shook Kazuma by his shoulders, "Kazuma… Kazuma, wake up…" he said softly.

After a few minutes of this Kazuma slowly blinked his eyes open and looked up at Shigeru with a sleepy but questioning look.

"Kazuma, time for you to wake up… It's already dinnertime …" Shigeru explained to Kazuma whose expression still showed drowsiness.

However, instead of getting up, Kazuma closed his eyes once again and cuddled closer to Shigeru.

"K-Kazuma!" said a slightly flushing Shigeru.

"Nnnnhhhh… Sleep now… Dinner later…" mumbled Kazuma as he relaxed and returned to sleep.

Inaho then chose that moment to reappear, "Dinner's ready! Is Kazuma awake yet, Shigeru?"

"Well… What does it look like…?" said Shigeru with a wry smile, "I got him to wake up but then he just went back to sleep again…"

Inaho sighed and moved closer to the two. She then took hold of Kazuma's shoulders and shook him gently, "Wake up Kazuma… Come on, dinner's already prepared, now get up…"

After a few minutes Kazuma was still ignoring his sister's pleas and so Inaho, having quite enough of it, said (or should I say shouted) at him,

"Azuma Kazuma if you still don't get up from there in the next five seconds, I swear I'm gonna beat you up so bad you won't be able to walk for the rest of your life!" (A/N: a bit too exaggerated, ne?)

Due to his fear of his sister's 'threat' Kazuma sighed and finally got up. " -yawn-... Aww alright, nee-chan, you win…" Kazuma yawned and began to stretch; and so did Shigeru after Kazuma had let go of him.

With Kazuma finally awake, the three of them went towards the dining room… Their dinner was very delicious, courtesy of Inaho's great cooking skills, that Kazuma had eaten about 3-4 servings, leaving Shigeru quite astonished at his voraciousness.

After eating, Shigeru had kindly volunteered to wash the dishes but Inaho had countered him saying that he's the guest at this house and that she should do the work since she already had had enough rest. As though noticing it for the first time Kazuma asked if Shigeru was going to stay for the night.

Inaho blinked, "Haven't I told you that before Kazuma?"

Kazuma shook his head, "Iie, nee-san… But then does that mean that he'll stay…?"

Inaho nodded while Shigeru just smiled at him.

Kazuma was very happy that Shigeru was gonna stay but then a question had popped into his head, "Ne, onee-san, if Shigeru's gonna sleep over here tonight then where will he sleep…? You're already occupying the spare bedroom…"

"Oh that's easy Kazuma…" said Inaho with a sort of evil grin while turning away from Kazuma to look at Shigeru. "He's gonna sleep in _your_ room, it's big enough for two people anyway…"

Shigeru could only gape at her, but then he remembered that Kazuma was still there. So he turned to Kazuma and asked him with a smile, "Is that okay with you Kazuma?" Although he was secretly praying that Kazuma would say no and at the same time thinking what Inaho could be up to.

But Kazuma's answer just made him want to throw anything that would come within his reach… "Nah… it's okay with me…"

With the matter finally resolved Inaho then asked Shigeru to help her clear up the table and bring the dishes to the kitchen. She also asked Kazuma to prepare the other sleeping mat for Shigeru, since he was going to stay in Kazuma's room.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

Once in the kitchen and out of Kazuma's earshot, Shigeru decided to confront Inaho…

"Inaho-san, may I ask what were you planning when you suggested that…" Shigeru said managing to keep a calm voice.

"Well, I kind have a favor to ask from you…"

'I knew she was up to something…' Shigeru said to himself. "And what could that be, Inaho-san…?"

Inaho put down the dishes by the sink and turned towards Shigeru. "Well, you see, in these past few nights I've been hearing Kazuma scream as if he was having nightmares and when I go check-up on him, he will be sitting and hugging himself and crying… Sometimes I even hear him muttering to no one in particular... something along the lines of 'No… please stop… don't come near me, please… go away… please…' I'm really worried about him… I think that something really bad has happened to him, do you know anything about it, Shigeru?"

Shigeru's mind was slowly processing this new information, so Kazuma was still bothered by the incident that happened to him over two weeks ago… If that's the case then the incident could be something bad… really bad that you can't easily forget… something like…

Wait, no, he didn't want to think of such things yet… but then there's no other logical explanation for it… But still, it couldn't be... 'Oh great now my head hurts…' thought Shigeru as he slowly massaged his temple, anyway there's only one way to find out…

"Inaho-san, has Kazuma told you anything… Anything at all over the past two weeks…?" Shigeru asked.

"If Kazuma _did_ tell me anything, Shigeru, do you think that I'll be asking you these things right now…?" Inaho replied. "…But why did you ask anyway, do you know something Shigeru?"

Shigeru leaned back on the wall behind him, he was currently debating with himself if he should tell Inaho or not… Apparently the 'you-should-tell-Inaho' side won.

"Well, Inaho-san, two weeks ago Kazuma ended up worn-out, dirty, and wounded on my doorstep… I don't know how or why but it was already past midnight when he arrived… You see, earlier that day we had a sort of celebration at the store, it ended at about 10 pm or so. But that's not the point, what I'm trying to say here is that _something_ could've happened to Kazuma sometime after we've said our goodbyes to each other after the party… And that _something_ could be the thing that's been troubling him ever since… However, I have no idea what that is… All I can say is that he desperately doesn't want others to know about it… Based from what you've said that he didn't even tell you, a family member, anything…"

Inaho's head was slightly spinning with Shigeru's verbose statement. Although she actually did learn one thing from it, "Hmm… It seems that you've put a lot of thought on that Shigeru… Well then, I've made the right decision after all…"

"I beg your pardon, Inaho-san…?" asked Shigeru confused. "The right decision? About what?"

"About trusting you." replied Inaho simply.

"Trusting me?"

"… In taking care of Kazuma… I really don't know how or why, but I just _know_ that you're the perfect person to help him right now. And besides, I know that deep down inside, you're more than willing to help Kazuma…"

Shigeru just shrugged and left the kitchen, he knew it to himself that what Inaho had said were true so what's the use of arguing? He then made his way towards Kazuma's room where he would be sleeping…

Upon entering the room the first thing that he noticed was Kazuma who seemed to be rummaging through his closet. Upon seeing Shigeru, Kazuma immediately went over to him and dragged him towards his closet. Once in front of the closet, Kazuma said to Shigeru: "Come on take your pick…" motioning towards his numerous pairs of shorts and t-shirts.

Shigeru looked inquiringly at Kazuma. "Eh?"

Kazuma placed his hands at the back of his head and said, "You're gonna stay for the night, ne? So you'll have to change; you can't sleep in your shirt and pants… They'll get all creased when you sleep… besides they're really uncomfortable to sleep in… So I'm gonna let you borrow some of my clothes…"

"… Thanks, Kazuma…" Shigeru said with a soft smile on his face.

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

"Hello? Anyone there? Helloooo…?" Kazuma called at nobody in particular. It was really hard to see anything in the dark room that he found himself in. 'Where is everybody?' Kazuma asked himself.

He suddenly heard someone call out his name. "Kazuma…" He instantly turned around and scanned his surroundings, although he could hardly see a thing.

He felt petrified when someone suddenly placed his (or her) hand on his shoulder. But once again the voice called out his name, although this time it was spoken directly into his ears as if the person was whispering to him. He gathered up his courage and turned his head to look behind him..

He was startled to see Shigeru standing behind him, whose hand it was that was on his shoulder, with a smile gracing his lips. "Ne, Kazuma, why do you look so scared? Are you feeling alright?"

"Shigeru, what are you doing here…? Okay, so never mind that, do you know where we are?" Kazuma asked.

"Hmm…" Shigeru removed his hand from Kazuma's shoulder and put his hand on his chin while the other hand was supporting his elbow, "Sorry Kazuma but I really don't know…"

"Well then I think that we should get going… We really need to find a way out of here…" Kazuma had begun to stride forward but he abruptly stopped.

A pair of strong arms had wrapped themselves around his waist and he was pulled backwards and felt himself come into contact with another's body. Soft lips brushed at his nape, tickling him a bit, as words were spoken. "Kazuma, don't go yet… Why don't you stay here for a while? Hmm?"

Kazuma had literally frozen on the spot. Was Shigeru just implementing something there? Because by the way that he spoke, he seems to be… enticing him… WHAT?!

Kazuma turned around to face Shigeru, which really wasn't the best thing to do given their previous position. However, Kazuma had realized this a tad too late, Shigeru had already tightened his grip, pulling Kazuma nearer to him. And in one swift motion Shigeru had closed the gap between him and Kazuma by kissing the other teen fully on the lips.

Kazuma didn't know how to respond to this, his whole being was telling him to kiss back but one tiny voice in his head told him that something wasn't right here… And so with all his strength he pushed away from Shigeru, making the other boy move back a few steps and let go of him, while he fell down on the floor and moved backwards; creating a short distance between the two of them.

"Wha-What did you do that for?" Shigeru asked after a while.

Kazuma didn't reply, instead he just stared at the floor beside him. Shigeru really wanted an answer and so he moved closer to Kazuma. "Kazuma…"

Kazuma was still avoiding eye contact, Shigeru's words just drifted around him. But suddenly everything went quiet. Suddenly a strong pair of hands lifted him up from his position on the ground and he was now dangling about two feet above the ground.

'Now wait a minute…' Kazuma thought to himself, 'Since when did Shigeru become this strong… oh yeah, he didn't… then… who?!'

"Well, well, well… What do we have here…?"

Kazuma's eyes widened as a sense of déjà vu came over him. That voice… He's heard it before… A feeling of dread came over Kazuma; it was him again… 'But... How… What… When did… Why?' Questions flooded through Kazuma's mind but he then remembered one important thing, 'Shigeru!'

He summoned up the courage that he has left; he faced the man in front of him and asked, "Where's Shigeru?"

The man just chuckled darkly at him, "You mean the guy who was here some minutes ago…? Hmm… Killed him… Don't believe me, do you kid? Well look there…"

Kazuma didn't trust the man to tell the truth and looked at the place where the man had indicated but he regretted it at once, for really Shigeru was there… Cold… Dead… And bloody… Shigeru was lying in a pool of his own blood with his eyes wide open in shock. Kazuma felt a chill run down his spine at the sight; his heart had stopped beating for a whole minute. 'Shi-Shigeru… Shigeru… I-I…'

But then the man placed his hand on Kazuma's chin forcing the teen to face him. Anger and fear was present on Kazuma's face but the man just mocked him, "You know it was all _your_ fault... Now look at him…" the man snickered "Useless piece of filth… But now, thanks to his death… You're all mine…" and with that the man crashed his lips on Kazuma's in a rough kiss.

Kazuma closed his eyes and shut his mouth tightly, feeling that he might throw up. Meanwhile his mind was screaming 'Noooo! Stop it! I don't want this! Anyone help me! Please, I beg of you! Get me away from here… Please…' as he was beginning to get hopeless he heard someone calling his name continuously from afar, it was quiet at first but then it became louder…

"Kazuma! Kazuma... Kazuma, wake up! Kazuma!"

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

Kazuma jolted awake his heart beating fast and cold sweat was present on his face. The first thing that he noticed was that the lights was on. The next was that Shigeru was also awake and was looking at him with concern.

"Kazuma what happened? I heard you talking in your sleep… Is anything wrong?" Shigeru inquired.

Kazuma just stared back at Shigeru. 'Shigeru… He-He's alive… I-It was all just a dream… Shigeru's still here…' he felt relived at the thought but he still couldn't erase the image of the dead and bloody Shigeru from his mind especially what the man had said about it being _his_ fault. Tears suddenly sprung from his eyes and flowed continuously. _What if it really happened? What if Shigeru really died? What if it will really be his fault?_

"Shi-Shigeru… I-I'm sorry…" Kazuma choked on his words as tears continued to fall. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Shigeru really couldn't quite understand Kazuma, one second he was scared, the next he's crying his heart out; and what in the hell would Kazuma be apologizing for? "Kazuma, what are you talking about? Why are you apologizing to me?"

Kazuma didn't reply to him but still continued his "I'm sorry" chant while lowering his head to try to hide his tears, which doesn't seem to stop flowing nowadays.

Shigeru still couldn't comprehend what Kazuma was playing at and so he gently cupped Kazuma's face with his hands and slowly made the other teen face him.

"Kazuma… Open your eyes… Kazuma, look at me…" Shigeru said in a soft pleading voice.

Kazuma gulped and slowly opened his teary eyes to look at Shigeru. "Y-Yes…?"

"Look Kazuma, if I ever did anything bad to you, or anything at all that made you sad, then I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry for that…" Shigeru said with sincerity.

However, Kazuma shook his head childishly, with his eyes filled with tears. "D-Don't apologize, Shigeru… Y-You didn't do anything wrong to me… It's just that-"

"But that had been my point all along, Kazuma" Shigeru said after Kazuma had said his expected reply. "You didn't do anything to hurt me or make me feel bad either. So why are you apologizing?" He sighed, "Okay then… I forgive you for whatever it is that you were apologizing for… But really Kazuma, you didn't do _anything_ as such…"

Kazuma tried to looked away from him but failed, "B-But you d-don't understand…"

"Understand what?" asked Shigeru looking him straight in the eyes.

Kazuma bit his lip and just looked downwards, "I-I'm the reason that y-you d-died…"

Shigeru just looked at him unable to grasp with what he just said. 'I _died_ because of _him_? But when did I die? Did I even _die_ yet?' Shigeru was really confused but then he remembered, 'Maybe it has something to do with the nightmare he had just now… Wait… I _died_ in his dreams? Never mind…'

Shigeru sighed, as he finally (well, sort of) understood. He made Kazuma face him again and looked at him with an understanding smile on his lips. "I'm guessing that it has something to do with your little nightmare…?" Kazuma nodded. "Look Kazuma it was just a nightmare, nothing else… It's just a dream it isn't reality… Just forget about it, okay? There isn't any possible way that it's going to come true…"

"B-But what if-" Kazuma protested but Shigeru interrupted him.

"Ahh… That's your keyword Kazuma, if. 'If' means that you're not sure whether it would happen or not… So it isn't _really_ going to happen… And even if I will die at some point in the future, I assure you; you're not going to be the cause of it… Unless you don't stop this nonsense of yours about me dying and become such a pain that I'm _really_ going to die of stress and high blood pressure…"

Kazuma laughed lightly at that but he still wasn't convinced. "But still…" he pouted.

Shigeru sighed and closed his eyes for a while and then opened them again. "Kazuma, you trust me don't you?" Kazuma just nodded. "Then why don't you believe what I'm saying?" Shigeru continued as he wiped away Kazuma's tears.

"Well… It's not that I don't believe it… But I just want to prepare myself if ever that those things will happen… Although I really don't want them to happen but I'm just… scared… And I just don't know what to do except cry… I'm sounding pretty weak to you, huh?"

"Kazuma, you know you shouldn't be like that…" Shigeru said in a comforting tone "You shouldn't really believe every single thing that you see or hear… Especially if its just a nightmare…" Kazuma still looked unbelieving and also somehow still hurt and afraid. Not really knowing the reason why but Shigeru just felt a sudden desire come upon him. He didn't want to see Kazuma look so sad… Especially if he was the cause of it.

He slowly but determinedly leaned nearer to Kazuma filling up the space between the two of them. Kazuma's eyes widened in shock, Shigeru isn't like this… Shigeru wouldn't… But why? Why would Shigeru kiss him? And _why_… WHY is he kissing back?

Kazuma's arms moved on their own accord and wrapped themselves around Shigeru's neck, deepening their kiss. Meanwhile, Shigeru's hands moved from cupping Kazuma's face towards Kazuma's waist enveloping the smaller teen and at the same time holding the said teen closer to him eventually making them lose balance and making them fall back to the mat. Despite that Shigeru still didn't pull away from Kazuma, he began to nibble at Kazuma's lower lip asking for entrance in which Kazuma obliged.

Shigeru's tongue slowly made its way into Kazuma's mouth; slipping and sliding along Kazuma's own tongue as it moved towards his mouth. Upon entering Kazuma's mouth, Shigeru immediately explored it with his tongue (very thoroughly I might add) licking and feeling through every part of it within his reach, becoming quite addicted to Kazuma's exquisite taste. He could feel Kazuma's tongue darting from one spot to another in his mouth in frenzy. But he couldn't blame the teen, after all, if he tasted to Kazuma the same way as the teen tasted to him, well its hard not to… Kazuma moaned into the kiss giving Shigeru more access to his mouth. Shigeru continued to explore Kazuma's mouth, delving deeper and deeper in search for more of Kazuma's addictive taste, intensifying their kiss.

However, lack of air prevented them from going further, and so they reluctantly separated from each other. As they both took in deep breaths of air to make up for their loss of oxygen Kazuma realized the position that they were in and also the fact that he and Shigeru just kissed making him blush to a deep red colour and look away. Shigeru also seemed to apprehend this and immediately got off from Kazuma, 'Well that wasn't really part of the plan…' Shigeru thought as he traced his lips with a finger brooding over what had just happened.

"Shi-Shigeru… Why… did y-you… What just happened?" Kazuma asked not really looking at Shigeru.

Shigeru looked at him, 'Oh great, now I just made him more confused than before… Nice work, Kanmuri…' he took in a deep breath and said "Kazuma, look I didn't know what came over me… I just wanted to help you out but… it seems that I made a wrong move… I don't know if this could help but: I'm sorry for that, Kazuma…"

"Shigeru, don't say you're sorry… I-It's okay… I know you didn't really mean it…" Kazuma said, his fingernails already digging into his palm but somehow still able to maintain a calm voice; he didn't want to keep his hopes up no matter how right (or how much, take your pick peoples) that kiss meant to him.

"Kazuma…" Shigeru said, more to himself than to anyone else actually, as he moved closer towards the other teen "That's not true…"

"Wh-What?" Kazuma asked looking up from staring at the floor.

"Oh, um, I didn't say anything…" Shigeru quickly covered up, 'Crap… What am I going to say…?'. "Kazuma… I… Look, let's just leave that incident for now… It's not that I didn't mean it… I mean… I did mean it but I don't think that… It's just kind of hard to explain… But, there are still more important things than that right now… Kazuma, I hope you'll understand, but I'll just tell you everything when the time is right… because I don't think that it is currently okay at present…"

Kazuma couldn't understand what Shigeru had been trying to say, what could be more important right now? He didn't want to have a false hope so he asked with a little hesitation at first… "Shigeru…"

Kazuma stopped. '_I can't do this… I'll look like an idiot for even asking, NO, for even thinking of it…'_

But a voice in his head said to him _'But Kazuma, you know you'll just strain yourself thinking of it over and over and over again… So you just have to ask him and wait for his answer…'_

'_That is my problem… What if he says no… I don't know what I'm gonna do…'_ Kazuma said worriedly.

'_But what if he says yes…? You wouldn't know the answer unless you ask him, so go on… Ask him…'_ the voice responded.

'_No… I'll just forget about it… I don't think that it's worth it…' _Kazuma said thoughtfully. _'I mean… I'm just okay with everything between us, we are good friends aren't we so why would I even think about such things…'_

'_Oi Kazuma… You aren't forgetting that he just kissed you, right? Emphasis on the __'he'__ and the __'kissed you'__ part… Oh come on! He was the one who initiated the kiss in the first place, for Pete's sake!'_ the voice said with a bit of hopelessness in the tone.

(A/N: 'for Pete's sake!' is a line that my Itoko frequently uses… XD And, no, there isn't and there wouldn't be any guy named 'Pete' in this fic thank you very much, it's just an expression…)

"Kazuma…"

Kazuma nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand brush his right cheek and a voice say his name. He immediately moved backwards before he could help it.

Shigeru quickly withdrew his hand a little bit surprised and hurt at Kazuma's reaction, did that mean that Kazuma didn't want him to be near him anymore…?

Kazuma seemed a bit surprised at his sudden reaction as well but when he saw Shigeru's expression he felt a bit guilty… Shigeru seemed to be hurt by his actions... Another day of not knowing wouldn't hurt right…? Besides, even if the answer was no he still had the kiss to reminisce… And so with his mind made up he shifted towards Shigeru… "Hey, Shigeru… Look sorry if I reacted like that… I was just too deep in thought that I didn't notice anything around me… Sorry… And, it's okay… I can wait… After all, when you say something's important then it really is important… Let's get back to sleep now…"

"But... are you sure that you're alright now?" Shigeru asked worriedly, maybe Kazuma was just trying to get away again…

"Nah… I'm okay now… Don't worry too much… The kiss helped… a lot…" Kazuma then blushed as he realized what he just said.

"Oh- Um… Your welcome…? L-Let's get to sleep now, Kazuma…" Shigeru said, blushing as well.

They then crawled back into their mats and turned away from each other. But when Shigeru sneaked a peek at Kazuma, but he saw the Kazuma was looking at him too both of them flushed to a beet red color but they didn't look away. Shigeru chuckled lightly making Kazuma look at him quizzically. "It's nothing, Kazuma… I was just musing at how extraordinary this day had been… Just go to sleep now…" he said while putting out his hand and lightly poked Kazuma on his forehead to emphasize his point, their mats were just inches apart so he easily reached the other teen.

"Ow… That hurt you know…" Kazuma pouted childishly, rubbing his forehead as he said it. But Kazuma just smiled brightly after that and then did something unexpected (for most people at least) he took hold of Shigeru's hand and held it close to him, "Shigeru, is it okay with you if we just stay like this till morning?"

Shigeru was quite surprised at Kazuma's action but agreed to it nonetheless. 'How can I say no?' he mentally told himself. He moved his mat closer to Kazuma's leaving no space between them so that it would be easier for them to remain in the said position.

"Thanks" was all Kazuma said as he intertwined their hands and held it close to him, and then fell back into deep slumber... Meanwhile Shigeru mused about the current situation but then said to himself that it really was late and he should really go back to sleep, so he gently squeezed Kazuma's hand in his and held on to it a bit tighter. He then drifted off to sleep with an unexplainable feeling that everything was going to be alright…

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**BloodLust:** Oooooooooookaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy... Well that was unexpected... I didn't really know what I was thinking of at about half of the time that I was typing this...

Buuuuuuut...

-jumps with joy- (Eheheh… as you can see I also have MPD… One moment I'm sad next I'm fuckin' happy…) I've finally finished this chappie and posted it… It's the longest chappie I've ever written… It's 10 pages long! So please review and tell me what you think of it, thankies! XD See even my Judai pic is happy (how can't he, he's permanently smiling in the pic, but whatever…) –dances around the room with Judai pic- La la la la la…


	6. Chapter 6

**BloodLust:** Nothing much to say here except… THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!!! I'm really sorry that I haven't thanked all the nice reviewers and readers who waste their time reading this little fic of mine… Special thanks to the people from whom I got the definition of some essential words that I needed for this chappie; namely: Hahawe, Alyssa and Itoko… Thanks to all and please enjoy this chappie…

I also updated this earlier than usual coz my Aniwe's Birthday is very near (it's on Nov. 3) and I'd like to make this like a birthday gift to her (along with chappie 5) XD So Aniwe, I hope that you'll like this… Oh and BTW, Aniwe, I've already finished all of the Yakitate Japan Eps. AND all the Gravitation Eps. Plus I've already watched the Gravitation OVAs… XD And can I just say that the Gravitation OVA drove me crazy… Everything was so… different… oh well, enough with my ranting and on with the story!!! Yay!!!

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**Developmental**

**Chapter Six:**

Shigeru woke up in his usual wake-up time in the morning however this time it was different… He felt a weight resting on his right hand; he sluggishly opened his eyes and looked to his right. Kazuma was still there clinging onto his hand like his life depended on it… He smiled to himself and gently removed his hands from Kazuma's. The other teen quickly reacted to this and began to feel about blindly… Shigeru couldn't help but laugh a bit but then he took hold of Kazuma's hands and whispered to Kazuma's ear (not even really sure if the other could hear him…) "Ssssshhh… Kazuma… Kazuma, listen I'm sorry but I've got to go now… I still have other things to do… Just get well soon, okay?" after he said that he brushed away Kazuma's dark brown bangs and kissed him lightly on his forehead, he then left the room and he gathered his clothes and changed into them. He then entered the kitchen in search of Inaho, he found her there and told her that he should go now. He then left Kazuma's house and went to his apartment, to take a shower and then go to work.

Kazuma woke up a little while after Shigeru had left, he was startled when he saw that Shigeru wasn't there, he immediately looked around the room but to no avail. He then went out of the room and went to the other parts of the house and his last destination was the kitchen where he always found Inaho in, expecting to see Shigeru since he hadn't seen him anywhere else but he wasn't there.

"Nee-san…? Where's Shigeru?" Kazuma asked as he took a seat at their table panting a little.

Inaho passed the bowl of rice to Kazuma (yes, I know that Inaho was the one who persuaded the whole family to eat bread in the first place but just bear with me this time, ok?) before she spoke. "You know he just left a few minutes ago… He said he still have to go to work… Why?"

"Nothing… just asking… Coz I just woke up without him there and I was kinda… worried a bit…" Kazuma said before he took a bite of his food.

"Mmmm…" Inaho just sipped her tea.

Meanwhile Kazuma was deep in thought. Why was he just so affected when he didn't find Shigeru when he woke up? Why did he feel just so… _incomplete_… when he saw that Shigeru wasn't there? What is wrong with him?! But… What is this… _feeling_… it was very unfamiliar with him… '_Love_' is that what they call it? He knew he heard Tsukino and Kyosuke talk about it for hours at one time but he really didn't understand it… He just needed to know… Any kind of explanation will do for now… He can't just let it slip by… So he decided to ask Inaho, I mean she _is_ his sister after all.

"Nee-san…?"

"Hai what is it Kazuma?" Inaho asked.

"What is love…?" Kazuma asked keeping his head bowed.

Inaho was surprised at the sudden question and almost choked in her tea. Since when did Kazuma become curious about that? "Why did you want to know, Kazuma?"

"Nothing… I just wanted to know what it is…" Kazuma muttered.

Inaho sighed, her little brother was growing up… "Well, it's kinda hard to explain Kazuma… You see it's a _very_ strong word to use… It's an intense feeling of affection and compassion that you feel for other people…"

"So… it's a special feeling for another person, is that right nee-san?"

"Um, yeah. It's sort of like that…"

"Really? But how will you know if you… like someone… if you love someone, I mean…"

"Kazuma are you sure you're alright? You're being _weird_ this morning? Is there anything wrong? Why are you suddenly asking such questions?" Inaho was somewhat worried by now, Kazuma isn't usually like this.

"I'm fine, nee-san… But I just really want to know…" Kazuma said lifting his face up a little.

Inaho sighed; well she never could just leave her brother's question unanswered. "Kazuma, you're really growing up you know… Well you love someone when you always want to be with them…" Inaho began.

Meanwhile, Kazuma was making a mental checklist for himself. 'Okay, check…'

"… When everything seems to be just right when you're with them, nothing really matters to you when you're with them…"

'… Check…'

"… You can't stop thinking about that person…"

'Why does everything seem to apply…?'

"You love someone when you still love that person, despite their imperfections…"

'Imperfections? He never did care about others imperfections… So does that mean that he likes all of those people…?'

"… And most importantly, you're willing to sacrifice everything for that person…"

'Wait… Am I willing to do that? For whom?' the first person to pop into his mind was Shigeru… 'Shigeru…? But why? Why him? Okay, so the kiss _could_ have something to do with it, but still… Is that even normal? I mean, a guy and a guy? But the kiss… It was just so unbelievably fulfilling… But then again we _are_ both male, it just doesn't seem right but still… It was just so confusing! Why is everything so complicated in this world?!'

"Kazuma…?" Inaho asked when Kazuma didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"Yes…"

"Are you okay?" Inaho was pretty worried by now. "Did I say something wrong…?"

"No… I just need to think over about a few things…" Kazuma said as he stood up, "I'll just be in my room, nee-san…"

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

It was nearing noon and yet Kazuma still hadn't left his room ever since that morning, Inaho took another peek at her brother and saw that he hasn't moved an inch. He was still lying on the mat facing away from the door, hugging a pillow close to his face. Inaho bowed her head in despair, what could've happened to her brother? He seemed so miserable all of a sudden. Well there was one way to find out…

"Moshi moshi… Pantasia Southern Tokyo branch, Tsukino Azusagawa speaking… Who is it?" came the greeting from the other end of the phone.

"Hi, Tsukino, this is Inaho…" Inaho replied.

"Oh, Inaho-san, what made you call? Is there anything that you need? We'll be glad to help…" Tsukino immediately said.

"No, no… Everything's okay… I was just wondering if I could speak with Shigeru…" Inaho explained.

"Shigeru?" Tsukino asked a bit surprised, she then bit her lip "Um… Are you sure, Inaho-san?"

"Yes, why, is anything wrong?"

"Well, Shigeru isn't like himself today… He seemed to be too deep in his thoughts… Manger has been flinging (throwing) bits of paper at him but he still isn't moving… If it weren't for his breathing, we would have probably mistaken him as dead." Tsukino looked towards the teen in question, and true to what she said he was still in his previous position with the same contemplating look plastered on his face while looking at the wall beside him unaware of the bits of paper all around him; in his hair, clothes, on the table, and on the ground and still more were coming, courtesy of Manager Ken who continued to flick small pieces of crumpled paper at him.

"Really?" Inaho said, "Well then I should really talk to him… Can you please give him the phone, Tsukino?"

"Um, okay then, if you say so…" Tsukino said unsure. She then called Shigeru, "Hey Shigeru you've got a call…"

"Huh?" Shigeru was shook out of his stupor when he heard his name. "What is it? And what in the-" he just noticed the pieces of paper around him and began to brush them off him, while giving Manager an accusing look as Manager feigned innocence and held up his newspaper to cover his face.

"Who is it, Tsukino?" He asked when he was near the phone.

"It's Inaho-san. She said she wanted to talk to you…" Tsukino said as she handed him the phone.

"Hello?" Shigeru said tentatively.

"Hey, Shigeru, it's Inaho… I just wanted to know if something wrong happened last night… Because Kazuma is behaving really peculiar today, and so are you, from what Tsukino has told me… Tell me, did anything happen?" Inaho asked.

'So Kazuma's disturbed by it as well…' Shigeru thought 'I knew I shouldn't have done that, but the question now is should I tell Inaho or not… Kamisama, give me any sign…' However, no sign came… Shigeru decided for the best, a little lie won't hurt right? After all it isn't completely a lie… "Well, Kazuma woke up last night he had a nightmare and well, I kinda got out from him that I sort of 'died' in his dreams, he was really crying then but I just comforted him and so he eventually stopped. But skip that, he was also talking in his sleep like what you've said but I still haven't figured out what's bothering him… So far that's it…"

"Are you sure Shigeru? You haven't left behind any details now, have you?" Inaho asked, sensing that something was still missing.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Shigeru asked trying to keep his cover. "I told you everything that I could, Inaho-san…"

"Fine, then… Thanks anyway, Shigeru…" Inaho said as she hung up the phone.

"Okay…" Shigeru also hung up the phone feeling guilty that he hadn't told her anything, but come on! How was he going to say it to her? 'Hey, Inaho-san you know, I just kissed Kazuma last night.' That would be just perfect! (Note the sarcasm here) He should probably also tell it to the whole world, for crying out loud!

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

Inaho sighed in despair; she didn't even know what was going on with her brother now…

"Nee-san…?"

Inaho lifted up her head at the sound of the familiar voice, Kazuma had finally left his room and was looking at her anxiously. "Hai, Kazuma what is it?"

"Are you okay? You're over-working yourself again, nee-san…" Kazuma accused her.

"Well what can I do? My little bro is sick and needs to be taken care of…" Inaho said as she ruffled Kazuma's hair.

"But I can manage myself now, I'm old enough you know… Plus, I'm already well…" Kazuma pouted. "See?" he put Inaho's hand on his forehead, and indeed he didn't have any fever anymore.

"Hmm… Fine then, I'll go after we have lunch…" Inaho said as she made her way to the kitchen to make their lunch, -sigh- 'Kazuma's growing up a bit too fast for me to keep an eye on him… I guess that I better let him live his own life now and not interfere with it…'

"Can I help, nee-san?" Kazuma asked.

"Sure…" Inaho said as she messed up her brother's hair once again.

And true to her word, Inaho left Kazuma after they had their lunch and washed their dishes, but before she left Inaho said something to Kazuma.

"Kazuma, listen… There's something that I forgot to mention to you earlier… I'm sorry for trying to interfere with your life these past few days… You've grown up too fast… I knew that you had a problem, I just sort of sensed it, but you didn't want to tell us about it, so I'm sorry because I still tried to meddle with it… I even asked the help of Shigeru because I saw that he is pretty close to you, but don't think bad about him or me… We just wanted to help you out, it's still your decision if you will tell us or not… And by the way, you asked me earlier how would you know if you love someone, well… You love someone when you're not ashamed of that person; you shouldn't listen or be bothered by what other people might think. Always follow your heart. Remember: Love is something that isn't just found, it's something that develops through time…"

"Nee-san…" Kazuma was awed to say the least on what his sister had just said.

"Well, I'll try to visit you sometime in the future, Kazuma… Ja matta!" with that Inaho climbed on her motorcycle and set off towards their grandparents' house.

"Bye, nee-san! And thanks… for everything!" was all Kazuma could say before his sister went away. He then went back to his apartment and began to ponder at what his sister had just said.

'What did she mean by '_you shouldn't be ashamed of that person_'?' Kazuma thought to himself, was this the answer? The answer to the question that he had been thinking about since this morning… Is that it? '_Love isn't something that isn't just found… It's something that develops through time…_' '_It's still your decision if you'll tell us or not… We're just worried about you…_' 'They worry about me… But what should I do? How could I tell them? It isn't as easy as it sounds, you know… The memory of it is still haunting me… But if I did tell them, how will they react? What will they do? Will they still treat me the same or will it be different? What should I do?' Kazuma's head was full of thoughts as he went back to his room, he got a towel from his cabinet and proceeded to the bathroom; he desperately needed to get his mind off things even for a short while… well… sort of…

Cold droplets of water rained on him as he stood underneath the shower. He sighed, 'Why is everything just so complicated? Can't something just be easy for once? What should I do, now?' He wiped away his bangs that were now soaking wet and were covering his face. He turned off the shower for a while, got his shampoo and applied it to his hair. As he continued to lather his hair and wash his body with the soap, his mind once again wandered to other things… namely last night's kiss…

'The kiss… It happened didn't it? It was real… It couldn't have been just a dream… But it was just so… hard to believe… It was near to impossible… I mean… Why did Shigeru kiss me? What could've invoked that incident? What did that kiss mean? Was the kiss even meant? And most importantly: Why did I kiss back? I really shouldn't have but… I can't help it… It felt like it was something that I had been waiting for… Like it was something that I've been longing for… But it was wrong and I already knew it but… I can't help it… But still why do I have the feeling that I want it to happen again… WHY?' Kazuma asked himself as he turned off the shower and dried himself.

'What does this mean? So many questions… Not enough answers… -sigh- But things can't just stay like this… I've got to do something about it…' Kazuma wrapped the towel around his waist and went to his room to change into his clothes.

'The memory of the _incident_ two weeks ago is getting back to me now… And I don't think that I can go through that all over again…' tears began to form in Kazuma's eyes and were threatening to fall any second but he quickly wiped them away. 'I should be strong… I shouldn't be weak, lest other people will notice and be bothered by this… And I don't want to worry them… I'll solve this… I swear… I'll find a way… This could either improve or impair the situation, but I'll have to risk it… Nee-san wanted to help me but I was the very obstacle that prevented her and Shigeru from doing so… And now I'm going to take matters into my own hands… if the result will be negative, well, I guess I'll just have to deal with it…'

**XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX**

**BloodLust:** Finished! I just wrote this chappie in two days! And I hope that the outcome is okay… It took me about… one week… I think, to write the previous chappie (chap. 5)… Oh, well… please tell me what you think of it… Anon. Reviews are also welcome… XD Thanks for reading and reviewing my fics up until now!!! Domo Arigatou!!!


	7. Chapter 7

**BloodLust:** … For once I've got totally nothing to say… except: LOTS AND LOTS OF THANKS TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF THE READERS OF THIS FIC!!! –glomps all of the readers- MAIDO ARIGATOU! AND PLEASE ENJOY THIS SECOND TO THE LAST CHAPPIE OF DEVELOPMENTAL!!!

Note: I know this is VERY unrelated to the fic but I'm just so happy that we won as the Champion in our year level Speech Choir XD and so I decided to update my fic ASAP...

Oh, and before I forget... To whoever that **prick** is who reviewed this fic with his/her story please don't do it again... It's meant for reviews not your stories, why don't you just register and THEN post your fics? That would be much, much better than putting your story on this fics Review page, thank you very much. Well, that's all for now...

**

* * *

Developmental**

**Chapter Seven:**

The working hours in the store was now through and Kanmuri Shigeru was already out and walking in the streets… However, he wasn't heading towards his apartment, which was usually where he immediately went to after his work, but this time he set off in a different but also familiar direction…

As he went nearer to his destination, he noticed something peculiar… The lights in the house were all turned off and it seemed that no one was home at present… Nonetheless he was curious about why it was so and he went nearer to the house. And sure enough, when he got there, he couldn't hear any sound from beyond the door, no matter how hard he pressed his ear against it. He scratched his head in confusion, "Where could they be at this time? Wait… What _is_ the time?" He looked at his watch "… Oh it's just 6:45… Okay… I'm being too exaggerated again… but still… It isn't like them to suddenly leave the house, although it _is_ locked and safe from any sort of robbery but still… What if something happens to them while they're out…?" Shigeru wondered but he then decided to just sit there and wait, afterall it was already nearing dark, they should be back anytime now…

**

* * *

**

It was already getting late and Kazuma was in a hurry to get back home. He had been out all day trying to figure out and plan his 'strategy', he was too deep in his thoughts that he wasn't able to keep track of time and so now he was rushing to go back home… He didn't want to go out after the sun has set since _that_… He took a short cut and was in his house's premises within a few minutes… But he suddenly noticed something different from the house… Another figure could be found lurking in the shadows…

Kazuma took a step back being a bit afraid and at the same time a little bit keener to his surroundings… "Who's there?" Kazuma asked, although his voice sounded like he was demanding it.

"Kazuma… Gods, where have you been?" the figure then stepped out of the shadows.

Kazuma surprised and at the same time glad when he saw who it was, 'Well this is unexpected…' Kazuma thought to himself.

Shigeru crossed his arms over his chest and looked questioningly at Kazuma. "You know I've been waiting here for a while now…"

Kazuma went nearer to Shigeru with a sheepish look on his face. "Eheheh… Sorry about that… I've been out all afternoon and it seems that I haven't been able to keep track of time… And what are you doing here by the way?"

"Me? Well… I just sort of… wanted to check if you were still okay…" Shigeru said while looking away from Kazuma. "But if you went out why wasn't Inaho-san with you? I mean wasn't she supposed to be taking care of you? And _why_ did you even go out in the first place? I mean aren't you still sick or something? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"You know, you should try not to worry too much Shigeru… You sound more worried than Inaho… and _that's_ saying something…" Kazuma said as he went past Shigeru. "I'll explain everything later… Let's get inside the house first… By the looks of you, you're already freezing cold…"

"How'd you know?" asked an astonished Shigeru as he followed Kazuma.

"Hmm… I dunno… But its really obvious from how you look…" Kazuma replied as he unlocked the door and both of them went in. He led them to the living room where it had a fireplace and lit it up to warm up the room. (A/N: I'm not really sure how any of their houses look like so just imagine that it's like that, okay?)

Shigeru sat down on one of the cushions on the floor, feeling the warmth from the fire spread through his body.

Kazuma then went towards his telephone and dialed a number. "Moshi moshi" he greeted. "Is this Ryuusei Noodles? …Hai, Ryuu-san, it's me, Kazuma… I'm okay… Uh-huh… No, of course not… What? Oh yeah, can I order two of your Special Yakisoba… It's for my friend who's here right now… Nope, the other one, Ryuu-san… Yep, that's the one… Really? You'll deliver them? That would be great… Thanks a lot Ryuu-san… Bye…"

"Uh, Kazuma? What was that about?" Shigeru asked from his seat on the floor having heard a few of the statements that Kazuma had said but not quite all of it.

"Oh, that… Well, I just thought that since I really can't do much good in the kitchen, I just ordered out from Ryuu-san's restaurant… I also ordered for one you, Shigeru…"

"Really? But Kazuma, you needn't have bothered…" Shigeru said modestly.

"Aw, come on… I know that you haven't eaten dinner yet… From what you said earlier I figured that you probably came here right after work… And by the looks of you, you probably haven't eaten yet… So I bought dinner for the two of us…" Kazuma said as he sat down on the cushion next to Shigeru.

"Wow, Kazuma, I never knew that you could sense those kind of things…" Shigeru said bemused at how Kazuma had easily figured out the situation.

"Well, let's just say that you really don't me that much then... Anyway, the order won't be coming for the next thirty minutes or so… So why don't we just talk for a while…" Kazuma said when things had suddenly become eerily quiet.

"Hmm… Now that you reminded me… I want to know why you were outside earlier; don't you need to rest or something? And why wasn't Inaho-san with you? Wasn't she supposed to be looking after you?" Shigeru asked.

"Well, nee-san already left after lunch since my fever was already gone… And because of that I have been left here all alone, so I decided to just walk around a bit… To think about something…" Kazuma said.

"And what would that be…?" Shigeru was getting quite interested.

"…Uh… It was just nothing, Shigeru…" Kazuma immediately covered up. "I just wanted to get out and have some fresh air after being inside the house for who knows how long…"

"Okay… I just thought I heard something…" Shigeru said as he shivered a bit. Okay so waiting outside the house for Kazuma to return, when it was already beginning to get dark and cold, _wasn't_ his greatest idea of all time but still…

Shigeru's thoughts were interrupted when he felt a warm hand enclose his own. He immediately looked at Kazuma with a light pink hue on his face. "Kazuma, wha-what are you doing…?"

"Hm? Oh, I just wanted to help you warm your hands a little… Coz even if you do have Solar Hands, you're pretty cold right now, so I thought that I should help you out a bit… Is that okay with you?" Kazuma asked with his never-wavering look of innocence. '…Besides… I don't think that I'll be able to do this again…' he said sadly to himself.

Shigeru couldn't help but think that something was wrong with Kazuma, traces of sadness could be noticed no matter how hard Kazuma tried to hide it. However, he didn't dare to voice out his thought, instead he just smiled warmly at Kazuma and responded. " Thanks Kazuma…"

Kazuma was glad but his memory just reminded him of something, 'Oh crap I forgot something!' "Um, Shigeru?" he asked tentatively. 'Why did I have to forget that? Of all the times, why now?!' "… I seemed to have forgotten to do something and I kinda have to do it… So can I just leave you here for a bit?"

"What is it about? Maybe I can help…" Shigeru asked as he stood up when Kazuma did.

"Eh? No it's okay… I can do it myself; you just stay here and wait… I'm just going to the kitchen to make the tea, that's all…" Kazuma said as he stepped out of the doorway.

"Aww…" Shigeru pouted, "But Kazuma… I don't wanna stay here, so I'll just help you." He then grabbed Kazuma's hand and led the way towards the kitchen almost pulling Kazuma behind him.

"Ah!" Kazuma was startled when Shigeru suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the kitchen. "Shigeru…"

"Don't worry about it, I'm okay now… It's not like I'm going to die of being cold…" Shigeru said as they entered the kitchen but he regretted saying it at once when he felt Kazuma's hand suddenly tense in his. He quickly turned around and faced Kazuma; Kazuma was looking away biting his lower lip. "Kazuma... I-I didn't really mean that… I just wanted to say that you shouldn't worry too much about me, I'll be fine…"

"… So you're saying that _I'm_ not allowed to worry about you but _you're_ worrying about me 24/7… That-That's just not fair Shigeru…" Kazuma said as his other hand clenched into a fist. "Why am _I_ not allowed to be concerned of other people's sake while they are always worrying of _my_ well-being…? It's just not fair…"

"Kazuma… that's not what I'm saying…" Shigeru said as he moved closer to the other teen. "It's not like that… I- I just don't want you to be burdened by my little problems… They're just simple things but…"

"But what…?" asked Kazuma as he looked up at Shigeru.

"… But when it comes to your current dilemma, well, it's hard for me not to worry… I-We want to know what's happened to you, to be able to help you... But how can I be at ease when you're not telling any of us anything? So do you now understand why I'm always worrying about you, hmm?"

"But why do you have to worry about me? I'm just okay with the problem… okay, so I'm _not_ okay with it, I really don't know what to do. But why do you have to waste your time in helping me?" Kazuma asked as he unconsciously leaned into Shigeru who wrapped his arms around him. "I mean each of us have our own problems, so why do you worry about mine?"

"Because I couldn't just let that one pass by… I can see how much it affected you and I wanna help you to overcome that… I'm concerned Kazuma… and… I'm sorry about what I've said earlier, it was wrong… I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry… Let's just prepare the tea and forget about it, don't you think so…?" Shigeru said as he ran his hands through Kazuma's soft brown locks.

"-Sigh- Okay then… Sorry for overreacting too…" Kazuma said as he pulled away from Shigeru as slowly as he could to cover-up his surprise when he realized that he was pretty much cuddling up to Shigeru and smiled apologetically which the other teen returned with a smile of his own. They then began to make their tea, never letting go of each other's hands; causing a bright pink blush to appear on both teen's cheeks but the two of them just ignored it. They had already placed the kettle on the stove and were just waiting for it to boil when the doorbell rang making the two of them jump in surprise.

"That must be, Ryuu-san…" Kazuma said as he stood up and Shigeru followed him towards the front door, still having his hands entwined with Kazuma's.

Kazuma quickly opened the door upon reaching it, "Good evening, Ryuu-san. Thanks for delivering the-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know but I wanna see who's your girlfriend? That's why you ordered two, right? My, my, Kazuma, you're already growing up and having a girlfriend… I should really tell Ken about this, you know… He'll be very happy… So where is she? How does she look like? I'll bet that she's very pretty. Can I see her? Come on… Don't be shy, I promise I won't tell anyone else…" Ryuu said it all in one breath.

Kazuma just blinked at him not saying a word but when he did find his voice he said defensively, "Girlfriend? I said no such thing Ryuu-san. Maybe you heard wrong…" Kazuma said as a light pink hue appeared on his cheeks. Shigeru was just behind him and was hearing pretty much all of this.

"Don't lie to me, boy… I know she's in here somewhere…" Ryuu said as he pushed the door open, revealing Shigeru who was just behind Kazuma with a surprised expression on his face. "Erm… Good evening Ryuu-san…"

"Hm? Shigeru? What are you doing here? Oh by the way, do you know where Kazuma is hiding his girlfriend, I know that he's hiding her in here somewhere…" Ryuu inquired as he looked around.

"Uh… Girlfriend?" Shigeru asked perplexed.

"Ryuu-san!!! I told you already! I don't have a girlfriend!!!" Kazuma said as he restrained Ryuu from going into the house. "The other one is for Shigeru!!! Sheesh!"

Upon hearing this Ryuu stopped struggling and looked back at Kazuma, then at Shigeru, and he managed to see their entwined hands. A sly smile spread on his face, "Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh… Okay…. Sorry about that Kazuma…" Ryuu said as he stood up properly and handed Kazuma the package that he had brought which was Kazuma's order.

"Thanks." Kazuma said as he accepted the parcel and reached into his pocket for some money to pay Ryuu, but then Ryuu continued…

"I'm so sorry for accusing you of having a girlfriend, Kazuma… I must have just misheard you earlier…" Ryuu said as he leisurely walked out of the door. "-Sigh- silly me… It wasn't girlfriend… IT WAS **BOYFRIEND**!!! Nyahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" Ryuu shouted the last part as he suddenly ran as fast as he could away from the house laughing his head off, leaving just a trail of smoke behind him.

Meanwhile Kazuma was blushing like mad whereas Shigeru had gone completely pale… Neither of them moving or even saying a word… Only one thought was echoing in their heads: 'D-Did he just say b-boyfriend?!'… The sound of crickets chirping in the background could be heard loud and clear… Tumble winds were dancing in the continuously blowing cold night breeze… When suddenly everything had gone quiet…

"WHAT?!?!" Kazuma shouted at the top of his lungs. He was about to run after Ryuu if it wasn't for Shigeru who quickly held him back.

"Kazuma, stop! Don't! Wait! Kazuma, restrain yourself… It's not worth it! Kazuma!" Shigeru said to Kazuma who was really trying to get away from his grip.

"Ryuu-san!!! Just you wait! When I get hold of you… ARGH!!!" Kazuma was still fighting back without noticing his surroundings that he had accidentally hit Shigeru making the other teen fall down to the floor.

"Ow." Shigeru groaned as he hit the ground.

"Ah, Shigeru! I'm sorry…" Kazuma said when he felt the grip on him loosen and heard a loud THUD! behind him. He then helped Shigeru to get back up on his feet. "Sorry about that, I just got a bit carried away… Are you hurt, Shigeru?"

"Yeah… a bit… It really hurt to be hit and then fall on the pavement…" Shigeru said as he stood up with the help of Kazuma.

"Sorry… I guess I'm just feeling a bit jumpy today…" Kazuma said as he looked towards the ground.

"Don't worry about it, its okay… Come on let's get inside already, our dinner will probably get cold…" Shigeru said as he tilted Kazuma's face upwards and smiled at the teen.

"Okay then…" Kazuma said and walked back to the house with Shigeru.

**

* * *

**

They had already finished having dinner and were cleaning the dishes when Kazuma was reminded of something, "Um, Shigeru…?"

"What is it, Kazuma?" Shigeru asked before he continued to wash the plates.

"Well, I was just sort of wondering why you didn't react when Ryuu-san said that…" Kazuma said in a small voice…

'Hmm, nice question… Why _didn't_ I react back there…?' Shigeru asked himself as he continued to lather the other glasses. He put down the sponge and glass and continued to think…

"Uh… Shigeru? You still there?" Kazuma asked when Shigeru still didn't reply after a few minutes.

Shigeru sighed, not being able to get the right answer… "Hmm… I don't know, Kazuma… Maybe because it isn't worth thinking about… I mean, Ryuu-san was probably just fooling around when he said that… So maybe that's why I didn't take it too seriously…" Shigeru said as he washed his hands and dried them, having finished lathering the dishes.

"Really? Coz now I'm wondering why _did_ I react back there…" Kazuma said as he rinsed the last of their dishes and then dried it with the towel. "I mean, when I look back at it now… It was really sort of pointless…" he then put the glass back in the cupboard.

"Hmm, well, just forget about it and move on… And speaking of moving on, I must go now Kazuma… It's getting pretty late… I should probably be going home now…" Shigeru said as he looked at the wall clock.

"Okay then… I'll see you out…" Kazuma said as he accompanied Shigeru towards the front door.

"Bye, Kazuma… And thanks again for the dinner..." Shigeru said as he stepped out into the night and waved goodbye to Kazuma…

"Bye Shigeru… Take care…" Kazuma said as he waved goodbye to Shigeru and closed the door. –Sigh- Another day had gone by… Kazuma looked around him… He was alone once again… But, well, he'd better get used to it… Today had been nice… but after tomorrow… He just didn't know what to expect… 'Kamisama, please help me here…'

Kazuma walked into the bathroom to have a shower before he slept, tomorrow was going to be the day… The day that would either make things better or worsen the situation… He finished his shower quickly and returned to his room to change, he then prepared his mat and crept inside. He looked outside the window where the moon could be seen, a full moon was out that night, making it a beautiful scene indeed…

'Wow, a full moon… I wonder if Shigeru could see this… It's really beautiful… Just… like… -yawn- him… Shigeru…' Kazuma then cuddled his pillow and drifted off to sleep…

Meanwhile, Shigeru was staring out of the window in his apartment… A full moon's rays were illuminating his features. He looked again at the little booklet in his hands. He flipped through its pages and stopped at a particular page that he had been scrutinizing at for the past week… 'Is it really worth it? Should I really do this? Only three days to go and then… Its sayonara…' Shigeru sighed; he then put the booklet back in the drawer by his bed. He sat down at the edge of the bed and looked around him. His room was quite empty right now… Most of his clothes and belongings were in the luggage at the corner of the room. '… I don't think that I can do this… But I already promised… So I guess I'll just have to… But, I can always cancel this, right…? But then he'll ask for a valid reason why I did that… And as of now, I can't think of anything to reason out with…' Shigeru fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling above him… 'Should I really leave…?'

**

* * *

**

**BloodLust:** Last chappie is on its way peoples!!! I hope that you liked this chappie… Please let me know of what you think… XD I _know_ I made them OOC again, so Im very very sorry for that... but-but... -waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh- I'm just a novice here! I really can't do VERY good fics... I'm just thirteen for god's sake! What would you expect?


	8. Chapter 8

**BloodLust:** LAST CHAPPIE OF DEVELOPMENTAL!!! –sniff sniff- I'm still bad at writing fics but I really hope that you'll enjoy this… I did my best to avoid making the characters OOC, but I'm just not good enough... -sigh-

Oh, and there's a bit of **lime** in this chapter… just lime… the lemons are reserved for Zannen… which I haven't really had time to do coz of Yakitate Fairytale... Gomen...

* * *

**Developmental **

**Chapter Eight:**

The morning sun was shining through the clouds in this bright sunny day… People were all in a hurry… Teenagers were all around the place either hanging around, waiting for their friends or just running around the place going to god-knows-where, business men and women were moving in haste to avoid being late, commuters were all waiting for either a bus or cab to arrive, and Kanmuri Shigeru was leisurely walking towards the Southern Tokyo branch of Pantasia… He really didn't understand why everyone was rushing past him, couldn't they just wake up earlier to avoid rushing like this? Besides it was already Saturday, why was everyone in such a rush?

As he entered the store the first person he saw was Kageto… or rather about four or five Kagetos, each helping their customers… 'Nothing new there…' Shigeru thought as he waved and said "Good Morning" to the Kageto in the counter. 'Tsukino and Manager are probably in the back room again…' Shigeru sighed, it was always like this… can't there be anything new for a change?

He opened the door and went inside and was just about to greet "Good Morning" when something crashed into him. Knocking him off his feet and making him fall to the floor. He heard a gasp and a whistle, 'I am going to kill whoever it is that crashed into me…' Shigeru thought to himself but then he heard a familiar voice above him. "Ow…"

Shigeru's eyes shot open and his violet orbs met caramel ones. He just stared and stared… 'Kazuma?'

It had already been about 5 minutes of staring before Kazuma realized that it was Shigeru whom he had collided with and they were in a very compromising position right now, so he quickly got off of Shigeru and helped the other teen stand. "Um… Sorry about that Shigeru… I didn't mean it…"

"Kazuma? What are you doing here?" Shigeru asked as he stood up with the help of Kazuma.

"Aw look, they already forgot about us…" Manager said to Tsukino in another side of the room.

"I work here, remember? Don't tell me that you lost your memory from the collision…" Kazuma joked.

"No I didn't…" Shigeru replied, "I just wasn't used to your presence for the past two weeks… And so maybe I did forget that part… Eheheh…"

"Well don't worry about it coz now that I'm no longer sick I'll work twice as much than before…" Kazuma announced.

"O…k… But why were you running anyway?" Shigeru asked when he felt a bit dizzy, probably from the fall.

"Huh? Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me…" Kazuma said as he turned towards Tsukino and Manager Ken with a sudden irritated look on his face. "Manager! Tsukino! Give it to me!!!"

"So _now_ he remembers us…" Tsukino said to Manager Ken, before the two of them began to run quickly followed by Kazuma who instantly gave chase when they started to run.

Shigeru just backed into the wall as he watched Kazuma chase Manager Ken and Tsukino around the small room. "Uh, Kazuma? Why are you chasing Tsukino and Manager…?" Shigeru asked when five minutes had already gone by and the chase was still on…

"Because… they… won't… give… me… the… picture…" Kazuma said in between breaths as he continued to pursue the two.

"Huh?" Shigeru didn't understand any of what Kazuma had said, so he just looked at Manager and Tsukino who were still running away from Kazuma. That's when he noticed that Manager was holding something… It was like a rectangle shaped piece of paper with an image on it although he couldn't clearly see the image since Manager was running too fast so the figure appeared blurred to him.

So when Manger happened to run by him, he quickly snatched the picture from Managers hands, so fast that even Manager Ken didn't notice it and continued to run away followed by Tsukino and then Kazuma who was shouting "Give it now, Manager!!!"

As the three continued their chase, Shigeru leaned back into the wall and looked at the picture that Kazuma had been so intent on getting from Manager and that Manger and Tsukino seemed to be amused at… He took one look at the photo and then… BOOM!

–twitch twitch- 'WHAT THE HELL?!' If Shigeru had been a volcano, he would have erupted… It was a picture of him and Kazuma, wherein both of them were asleep and Kazuma's head was resting on his chest with his arms around Shigeru's middle whilst Shigeru had one of his arms placed over Kazuma's and the other was sort of tangled in Kazuma's hair.(you know, it was the one from chappie 5...) Shigeru's hands balled into fists, his anger rising (plus the fact that he was embarrassed to death), he shouted. "MANAGER!!!"

Not only Manger, but also Tsukino and Kazuma stopped in their tracks when Shigeru suddenly shouted. (Even Kageto heard it.) A black and purple aura was surrounding Shigeru making even Manager Ken quite frightened a bit. That's when Manger then noticed that he wasn't holding the picture anymore; he looked around for it and found it in Shigeru's hands. "Uh-oh…"

"Manager? What is it?" Tsukino asked when she heard Manager.

Manager just pointed towards Shigeru's hands and Tsukino instantly knew why. 'Crap!' "RUN FOR IT!"

Kazuma didn't know why Manager and Tsukino suddenly ran to the farthest spot in the room from Shigeru. "Uh… Shigeru…? Are you okay?" He asked tentatively, he took a closer look at Shigeru and saw the picture in his hands. 'Oh. So that's why… Wait, he SAW it?! Oh, Kamisama…'

Shigeru dropped the picture on the floor he took a step forward making Manger and Tsukino take a step backward, meanwhile Kazuma tried to calm down Shigeru. "Shigeru… Eheheh… Shigeru, calm down… -gulp- Shigeru…"

"MANAGER! I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" was the only thing that Shigeru said before he chased Manager and Tsukino who were now running for the sake of their lives… After three seconds of staring Kazuma ran after Shigeru in an attempt to stop him from doing any harm to Manager and Tsukino, 'And I thought _I_ was mad back there…' Kazuma thought.

"Shigeru, be reasonable! Shigeru!"

"It was just a joke Shigeru, come on, you understand that right?"

"DIE!!!"

"Calm down Shigeru! Just don't think about it!"

"Hey, I'm sorry alright! Sheesh!"

"Ah! Shigeru, stop chasing us! My feet are already sore!"

"Control yourself, Shigeru!"

Kazuma managed to grab Shigeru by his shoulders from behind and turned him around to face him. Kazuma then began to roughly shake Shigeru, "Oi, Shigeru! Get a grip on yourself, will you?"

Tsukino and Manager had stopped running when they saw that Shigeru wasn't behind them anymore but they still distanced themselves from the teen.

Kazuma sighed as Shigeru finally began to calm down. Manager and Tsukino then came nearer when Kazuma signaled that it was already safe.

"Oi! Shigeru, you alright now?" asked Manager Ken as he ruffled Shigeru's hair.

Shigeru just gave him an irritated look and asked, "Who is the idiot who took that picture?"

"Eheheh… That would be me…" Tsukino confessed.

"And may I ask _why_?" Kazuma queried.

"Uhh… Well…" Tsukino bit her lip and looked away, "You see… I really don't know…"

"So you just took the picture so that you'll have something to razz us with," said Shigeru who was massaging his temple. This really wasn't one of the best days of his life…

"Erm… yeah… its kinda like that… Hey, I'm sorry okay?" Tsukino said. "Manager, you should say sorry too…"

"Hmph! Fine… Sorry… Whatever…" Manager said while crossing his arms and looking away.

"I really don't understand why you just had to take that stupid picture…" Kazuma said.

'_I_ really don't understand why you and Shigeru were in such a position…' thought Manager Ken.

"Well, let's just stop this nonsense and do our work, don't you think so?" Tsukino asked. "Kageto is probably tired from doing all the work… Why don't we help him for a change-"

"… Yeah right… Anyone for a game of cards?" Manager Ken asked not paying attention to Tsukino.

"Oooohh, count me in Manager," Kazuma said eagerly. "Come on Shigeru, join us…"

"Fine… I have nothing better to do anyway…" Shigeru said as he sat down at a chair on the table and Manager began to give out cards.

"Hey! What about me? I'm in too!" Tsukino said as she sat down on an empty chair and joined in the game.

Kageto was peeking through the slightly open door with Anime tears on his face "They really hate me… I'm always doing the all work while they just sit around and relax… And I thought that they'll actually help this time –sigh- Oh well, better get back to work, seeing as none of them seems to bother…"

* * *

"Bye everyone!" Tsukino waved goodbye to her co-workers as they were going in their own ways home, it was just 5:00 but they were already going home… Why? You ask, it was because today had been declared as a holiday and they were sent home earlier than usual. 

"So, where are we going to have our date today?" Tsukino asked as she turned towards Kyosuke who instantly placed his arm around her shoulders while she cuddled up to him.

"Just wait and see…" Kyosuke replied as he and Tsukino walked side by side.

"...Now I've seen everything…" stated Manager Ken as looked the retreating backs of the two. "Who ever thought that they'll end up together and last this long?"

"I think Kyosuke put something in Tsukino's food…" Shigeru said thoughfully, putting his hand on his chin.

"Really?" asked Kazuma as he had a mental image of Kyosuke emptying a bottle of pink shimmering liquid in Tsukino's drink.

Manager, Shigeru and Kazuma looked at each other and then burst out laughing, "Riiight… And I'm probably related to Kageto…" Manager said. "Well anyway I've gotta go, I still have a fight to win against Ryuu… Bye!"

"Bye, Manager!" said Kazuma as he waved goodbye.

"Well, Kazuma, we'd better go home now…" Shigeru said when Manager had already disappeared amongst the crowd but then he noticed that the aura around Kazuma seemed to have changed. "…Kazuma?"

"…Shigeru is it okay if… C-can I speak with you for a while…?" Kazuma said not really looking at Shigeru.

'What could this be about...?' thought Shigeru, "Of course… Why not? What is it, Kazuma?"

"…Well…" Kazuma bit his lip and looked around him, "…I don't think that I can tell it to you here… Is it okay if we go somewhere else…? I hope it's not a bother to you…"

Shigeru raised an eyebrow, what could it be that Kazuma wants to say to him? "Okay, but where?"

"…I-I dunno…" Kazuma said not really having an idea where.

"Hmm…" Shigeru thought 'Where, where, where…' He was suddenly reminded of a place, although it was a bit far from where they were right now… "Hey, Kazuma, I know a place… Come on…"

* * *

Kazuma followed Shigeru who led the way. Shigeru led him past the bustling city, past the park, past everything else, until they came to a halt. Kazuma then notice that they weren't in the city anymore; they were on a high cliff that was overlooking the sea. The setting sun was reflected on the water making it such a beautiful scene that it was breathtaking… 

"Well, what do you think? Is this place okay?" Shigeru asked quite amused at the awed expression on the other teen's face.

Kazuma could only nod in response.

"Okay then... Well, what is it that you wanted to tell me?" Shigeru asked as he too looked at the sea before them.

"Huh? Oh… yeah…" Kazuma had momentarily forgotten why he was taken here in the first place, a feeling of sadness quickly came over him which didn't get past Shigeru.

"Kazuma? What's the matter? Are you alright?Did I say anything wrong?" Shigeru asked as he turned towards the other teen.

Kazuma looked away, this was it, they were already here; he took a deep breath and began, "Shigeru? Do you remember when you found me on your doorstep at way past midnight over two weeks ago…?"

Shigeru just nodded in response. Was Kazuma really about to tell him about it?

'I can't do this… Why did I even think of doing this in the first place?' Kazuma was saying to himself when he suddenly felt someone embrace him from behind. He quickly looked to his side to find Shigeru's head resting on his shoulder. A blush quickly spread through his face, "Um… Shi-Shigeru, don't you think that… if other people see us like this, they'll… you know… think that…"

"Hmm… You've got a point… but I rarely see people around here… So, I really don't think that we'll be seen… But if you feel uncomfortable then…" Shigeru said as he slowly loosened his hold on the other teen but then...

"Wait…No… Its okay…" Kazuma replied quietly as he placed his hands on top of Shigeru's arms that were wrapped around his middle and kept them from moving. Shigeru was quite surprised but he just let Kazuma have his way. They had remained in complete silence for a while, only the sound of the waves of the sea and the blowing breeze could be heard, when Kazuma decided to ask, "Shigeru…?"

"Hmm?"

Kazuma hesitated for a while… Should he really ask this? What would Shigeru think of him? He distanced himself from Shigeru, making Shigeru let go of him.

Shigeru blinked at the sudden action and just looked at Kazuma. "Kazuma…?"

Kazuma bowed his head and asked with a hesitant tone, "Shigeru… Do you… do you love me…?"

BOOM! Shigeru was dumbfounded. It was just so sudden; he hadn't really expected this. What should I tell him?

_The truth, what else?_

But…

_Come on! It's not like its gonna hurt him or anything…Besides, its the truth isn't it? You're a genius Kanmuri, you should know how to handle these stuff..._

But still, it could affect what him deeply… Besides, I don't even know a single thing about these things about love... It isn't like I was actually taught about it in Harvard... Anyway, I…

_You love him and you know it. And that's all that matters. Just admit it, Kanmuri…_

Shigeru took a deep breath, 'Well, what's the use of arguing if I already know that its true…' He then moved towards Kazuma and stood beside him. "Kazuma?" He turned towards the other teen. Kazuma slowly looked up at him with an apprehensive look. "Kazuma, please don't be disturbed by this… I-I don't really know if this is right or what you'll think of me after this,but… Yes. I- I do love you…"

However Kazuma didn't even seem to be bothered by this, he only looked relieved for a while but then depression came over him once again, "Shigeru… Are you only saying that because you don't want me to be hurt...? Coz you know, it's okay if you don't… You needn't have to lie to yourself…"

"But Kazuma!" Shigeru protested, what was wrong with Kazuma today? Why is he like this? "Why don't you believe me? If I didn't then I would've said no… But I really do. I really love you, Kazuma… I wouldn't lie to you no matter what…"

Shigeru was about to touch him but Kazuma moved away, "But what if you discover something bad about me? Something really bad... What will you do?"

"Look Kazuma, I wouldn't care whatever that is! So what if something bad had happened to you? All that matters is that we have each other, Kazuma…" Shigeru took hold of Kazuma's shoulders and made the other teen face him however he wasn't expecting what he found there. Kazuma was shaking and tears were flowing from his eyes. "Kazuma… What… Why are you crying? Kazuma…"

Shigeru lowered his face so that he could see Kazuma's face properly, he gently wiped away Kazuma's tears but it appeared to be futile as more tears came. So he just wrapped his arms around the smaller teen and let Kazuma cry onto him. Kazuma felt warm and protected in Shigeru's embrace but he still couldn't stop crying.

'Why… Why am I crying? Shouldn't I be happy about this? Shigeru loves me… But… What if he finds out about _that_? Will he still love me? He did say that it wouldn't matter… But I'm still afraid… I don't want to lose this…' Kazuma thought to himself as he grasped the front of Shigeru's clothes and kept on crying.

"Ssssshhh…" Shigeru continued to caress Kazuma's backing an attempt to clam down the other teen. He then spoke in a quiet tone, "Kazuma… calm down… You know, its okay if you don't tell it to me now… You shouldn't pressure yourself… There are still other chances for you to tell me about it… Its okay, Kazuma, I can wait…" however deep inside him, he really knew that there wouldn't really be another chance...

But Kazuma just shook his head. "No, its okay…" He pulled away from Shigeru and wiped away his tears. "I don't think that I've done myself justice, keeping it only to myself for so long… I'm still really wounded by that incident, it always haunts me in my dreams… I was alone and scared… but even though I knew that you and other people are there to help me… I just felt… afraid… if you would still accept me after you find out about it… I didn't want other people to reject me or be disgusted when they find out about it, so I just kept it to myself, pretending that everything was all right… although deep inside, I'm slowly breaking into a million pieces…"

"But Kazuma, I'm always here for you… Everyone is… No matter what we'll accept you, you don't have to worry about being discarded or anything… And still, even if the others abandon you, which I highly doubt that will ever happen, I'm always here for you… I'll never leave you, no matter what…" Shigeru said in a reassuring way as he gently slid his hand into Kazuma's waiting for the other's response. "Remember that…"

Kazuma immediately grasped Shigeru's hand and interlaced their fingers, Shigeru held his hand as if not ever wanting to let go and this, in some strange way, assured him that everything will be alright. He then took a deep breath and began with much uncertainty in his voice. "O-okay then… Well, the party ended at about 10 pm that night didn't it? And well, as I was going home I was passing by a dark alleyway when some guys surrounded me… I intended to go away but they held me back." Kazuma paused for a bit and tightened his grip on Shigeru's hand before he continued. "I started to scream but then something hit me on the back of my head. And everything went black and I couldn't remember anything after that, but when I woke up I was in a completely different place… It was then that I felt a sort of pain especially near my..." Kazuma slowly looked away not wanting to see Shigeru's reaction."... my crotch… the next thing I noticed was that my zipper was open and… and that's when I concluded that I was – I was probably… raped…" as soon as the words left his mouth everything seemed to have stopped moving. Everything was still and quiet, Kazuma didn't want to continue but it was out of control, "… and- and possibly e-even… gang raped…"

All the while Shigeru was listening intently on what Kazuma was saying. He already wanted to cry but he just told himself to be strong but it seemed that he just couldn't control it anymore as the tears that were restrained finally flowed freely from his eyes. He couldn't just believe it; it couldn't possibly be true…

Shigeru asked, his words were faltering as tears continued to flow from his eyes leaving trails down his cheeks. "That- that's not true, right, Kazuma? Y-You weren't serious with that, right? …I mean, it was just a joke, right… It was just…"

But Shigeru's sentence just trailed off when Kazuma sadly shook his head.

"B-But… Kazuma… Y-You… I mean… You're- you…" Shigeru finally broke down. "…Kazuma, you're- you're still too young… You couldn't have… H-How can you say that? It's not true… It couldn't be… Why? Why did it have to happen to you? Of all people… Why? Kazuma… I…-" Shigeru hadn't noticed when they had let go of each other's hand, but he didn't think anymore of it as he reached out to Kazuma but the other teen just walked away.

"Shigeru… It's okay… I understand… I've-I've already expected this from the very start, anyway… Let's just forget everything that happened in this place... That y-you told me you... you loved me, that I told you about being... being raped… I'll… I'll just… go now…" Kazuma tried very hard not to choke on his words as he spoke in between his sobs, but it seemed ineffectual. He was already walking away when Shigeru called out, "But Kazuma-". However Kazuma just blocked it from registering in his mind and said with out even looking back at Shigeru, "Don't worry… I- I'm all right… You should also go now…"

Shigeru just stood there taken aback, 'Kazuma…' However he firmly decided that he wouldn't just be left like that… He gathered up everything that he could muster, Kazuma was just a little far away and so he shouted, "BUT KAZUMA, I STILL LOVE YOU! I'LL ALWAYS DO! NO MATTER WHAT!"

* * *

Kazuma was silently crying as he walked away from Shigeru. He could almost hear his heart breaking into a million tiny pieces… He already expected this didn't he? He knew that it would end up like this… But still it was devastating when it actually happens… In spite of this, everything appeared to change when he heard Shigeru's shout… And even though he had already vowed not to do this, his whole being urged him to, and so he slowly turned around and looked back at Shigeru his tears still flowing… 

Upon noticing that Kazuma had stopped, Shigeru immediately ran towards him and stopped in front of the other teen. Shigeru panted a bit before he began, looking directly at Kazuma, "Kazuma look… I know that I've been stupid… I was just shocked… Everything came out all of a sudden and I haven't prepared myself enough… But when I've cleared up my mind a little, I realized that all of it didn't really matter to me… It was all in the past and should just be forgotten… I-I don't really care about it… Who cares if it really happened? All that I care about now is you… I'll do anything to help you get over it, even if it costs me my life… I'm willing to do anything and everything to help you, Kazuma… I- I really love you Kazuma… So please, don't just leave me like this… I'm sorry Kazuma, so please… don't go…"

Kazuma couldn't find anything to say, his tears seemed to have suddenly stopped. He was speechless. He felt like crying and rejoicing, running away and staying, flying and falling, all of it and more at the same time. He just couldn't find the right words to express his feelings.

He looked at Shigeru and saw it in the other teen's eyes, everything that he needed, needs and would ever need. He saw the unspoken promise that Shigeru would never leave him… He felt the urge to cry as he whispered, "Shigeru…" However he couldn't hold it back any longer and flung himself to Shigeru who always seemed to be ready to catch him every time he fell. He wrapped his arms around Shigeru's waist and buried himself in Shigeru's chest. "Shigeru, I-" he tried to explain but Shigeru hushed him and told him that it was alright, and so he just thanked the other teen with all his heart and continued to hug Shigeru as the other teen held him as well.

After a while, Kazuma slowly looked up at Shigeru and asked, "…Shigeru?"

"Hmm?"

"… I was just sort of wondering if… if you know…" Kazuma continued looking away.

"If what…?" Shigeru pressed on as he tilted his head to the side.

"…Well, I was just wondering if this… this whole thing was real… if it really did happen and it's not just a dream or anything…"

Shigeru smiled to himself and tilted Kazuma's face up again with his hand. "Why? Is it impossible to believe?"

Kazuma just nodded meekly.

"What proof do you need to believe that this is true?" Shigeru asked as he ran his hands through Kazuma's hair.

This time, however, Kazuma didn't nod nor did he shake his head. He just continued to stare at Shigeru as if he was looking for an answer.

Shigeru's lips formed a smile, as though he knew what was Kazuma's answer by just looking into the other teen's eyes. He leaned closer to Kazuma, there was just barely enough space between his and Kazuma's lips when Shigeru stopped.

"You know, I don't really know it myself…" Shigeru stated his lips lightly brushing against Kazuma's when he spoke.

Kazuma started to blush and just closed his eyes as Shigeru leaned closer closing the gap between the two of them.

'Kami-sama, if this is just a dream, please, don't let me wake up again…' Kazuma thought to himself as he kissed Shigeru back and wrapped his arms around the other teen's neck.

Their kiss was short and simple but when Kazuma opened his eyes and found Shigeru looking back at him, a warm smile on his face, and he knew that it wasn't just a dream, it was real, everything was, and Shigeru was there… Kazuma just looked back at Shigeru and a smile once again found its way to his lips, a genuine smile for the first time that he, and even Shigeru, could remember ever since the incident. And they just stayed in that position, holding each other close as they watched the sun setting in the horizon.

* * *

It was already about midnight but Shigeru was still wide awake… His mind was going through the events that day… Thinking of which, he turned to see the brunet that was cuddled up against him… He absentmindedly stroked the brunet's dark brown locks and tightened his hold on the other teen, as if afraid that the other teen would suddenly disappear… 'Today has really been an extraordinary day...' Shigeru thought as he placed a kiss on Kazuma's forehead… After they have resolved the little 'issue' of Kazuma's they went to a place to eat and then they proceeded to his place with an unusual feeling shared between them… They were a bit… awkward… with one another… but then one thing led to another and I'm pretty sure _everyone_ here knows what happened next -wink wink-...

Shigeru smiled to himself and rested his chin atop of Kazuma's head his hands resting on the other teen's waist and pulling the other teen closer to him. Everything was perfect for him now… well… not yet, but he was just waiting for a call that would complete everything… That person was bound to call anytime now, really, and he was just waiting…

-Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing- Shigeru's head quickly shot up, 'Finally…' he thought, he deliberately pulled away from Kazuma and gently set Kazuma's head on a pillow and cautiously got off the bed, not wanting to wake up the other teen.

He successfully got out of the bed without waking up Kazuma. He picked up his boxers from the floor and put them on and continued his way out of the room, he stopped when he reached the phone and picked it up.

"Hello, Tsutsumi-san…" Shigeru said confidently as he sat down on the couch.

"Shigeru-kun, how'd you know that it was me?" Tsutsumi said in an amused tone from the other end of the line.

"Come on, Tsutsumi-san, who else do you think ever calls me in the middle of the night like this?" Shigeru replied.

"Hmm, good point. But from the tone of your voice, I can tell that you were expecting my call… Well? What is it?" Tsutsumi said.

"Well… You remember the job opening in your place that you've offered me, Tsutsumi-san?" Shigeru asked.

"Yeah… what about it…? Is anything wrong?" Tsutsumi asked.

"Well… You see I've decided not to go for it after all… I hope that it's okay with you…" Shigeru said. "I'm just really happy and contented here right now…"

"But what's with the sudden change of mind? When did you decide about this?" Tsutsumi said a little downhearted.

"I'm really sorry Tsutsumi-san… I've just resolved about it today… I've really spent a long time thinking about it and… well… today, I got my answer…" Shigeru answered back to Tsutsumi. "I'm really sorry to disappoint you… The offer is really great, Tsutsumi-san but… there are things here that I couldn't just leave behind… Important things that mean more to me than anything else…"

Tsutsumi sighed, "Oh well, I guess that I wouldn't be able to change your mind once you've decided… I knew that it was too good to be true that you'll come here and work with me, Shigeru-kun… Anyway, if you're free why don't you just visit me here sometimes…?"

"I'll see into that…" Shigeru said, "But I really can't make promises right now… Things are still a bit… disordered at these times… But I'll try…"

"Ok then, well bye…" Tsutsumi said not being able to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"I'm really sorry Tsutsumi-san… Bye…" Shigeru said before he hung up the phone, he couldn't help but feel guilty about it but it had to be done… it was better than letting his half-brother have a false-hope that he'll be coming…

"…Shigeru…?" a familiar but sleepy and quiet voice suddenly spoke.

Shigeru immediately turned towards the doorframe that leads to his room and sure enough he saw a sleepy Kazuma leaning on a side of the doorway groggily rubbing his eyes, obviously having just woken up. He had put on a plain button-down shirt that was a bit long for him (in other words, it was just enough to cover his nakedness), which he probably just picked up from the pile of their clothes that were scattered on his bedroom floor. "Kazuma? Why are you still up? Its already late…"

"Great choice of words coming from you, Shigeru…" Kazuma replied as he made his way towards the couch and carefully sat on Shigeru's lap. He cuddled closer to Shigeru when the other teen embraced him, "Why are _you_ awake, Shigeru…? I only got out of the bed when I saw that you weren't there…" Kazuma muttered as he placed his hands around Shigeru's neck and looked at the other teen in the eyes.

"…Well, I was sort of waiting for a call from someone…" Shigeru replied.

"Who?" Kazuma asked, well it would be more of 'demanded' if it wasn't for his weary and sleepy tone along with his drowsy look but a hint of jealousy was still obvious in the way that he asked especially since his eyes had visibly narrowed when he heard Shigeru's reply.

Shigeru chuckled a bit and leaned in closer to Kazuma's face. "Is that right? Did I just hear a tinge of _jealousy_ in your voice just now? Is Kazuma getting jealous…?"

Kazuma just pouted at him. "… Shigeru…"

Shigeru smiled again and replied, "Look, I was waiting for a call from my brother okay… You know, Tsutsumi-san… I told him that I wouldn't be able to go to Austria and apply for that job opening that he was offering me since I would be leaving behind something… or rather _someone_ very special to me behind if I did…"

"Oh." Was all that Kazuma managed to say, he felt a bit sheepish getting jealous like that… Wait did he just admit that he was _jealous_? Oh God…

But before Kazuma could say anything else, Shigeru had already kissed him passionately on the lips… This caught him unaware but in the end he just melted into the kiss and tightened his grip around Shigeru's neck pulling the other teen closer and deepening their kiss. Shigeru then began to unbutton Kazuma's shirt and moved his hands across Kazuma's chest and back and then began to move lower, making Kazuma react to his touches in a pleasurable way.

Kazuma moaned into the kiss giving Shigeru complete access to his mouth which the other teen quickly took advantage of. Shigeru's tongue slowly entered Kazuma's mouth. Their tongues fought for dominance wherein Kazuma purposely lost and just let Shigeru take control. Shigeru took off Kazuma's shirt, which was now just hanging off of the brunet's shoulders, before he led them to lie on the couch with Kazuma underneath him. He continued to kiss his koi (1) fervently as the other teen kissed him back. He felt Kazuma's hands removing his boxers and a sly smile formed on his lips as he placed kisses on the other teen's exposed neck; he didn't hinder the other teen's actions, after all Kazuma was already naked so why shouldn't he be? Shigeru felt Kazuma completely remove the only thing preventing them from direct contact with each other and throw it somewhere on the floor. Now Shigeru had always been a very well organized person but right now it didn't really matter, 'I'll just clean this up tomorrow… After all, even my room needs a bit of a clean-up…' he said to himself as he reveled in the sensation that was going through him… Kazuma wrapped his arms around his neck and their legs became entangled with each other's, effectively pressing up their bodies and drawing them closer. Shigeru continued to ravish the other teen, tracing kisses from Kazuma's collarbone and upwards towards the brunet's neck, earning him moans of pleasure coming from the other teen. Shigeru nibbled at Kazuma's earlobe and licked the outer shell of Kazuma's ear, sending shocks of electricity down the brunet's spine causing Kazuma to arch his back and tighten his hold on Shigeru. Shigeru couldn't help but grin, he had found just out about Kazuma's, erm, _sensitive_ spot just earlier that night and it seemed pretty cute to him. However he seemed to have been too deep in his thoughts as he didn't notice Kazuma who was already just inches away from his face, he _did_ notice it, however, when Kazuma had already kissed him. He blinked a few times before kissing back the brunet. Kazuma steered Shigeru off of him and onto his side, so that they were now lying on their sides facing each other, their bodies pressed so close to each other's seeing as the couch wasn't made for two people to lie on. They continued to kiss each other passionately until they couldn't hold their breath any longer and they separated quickly taking gulps of much needed air. Kazuma's grip tightened a bit to avoid falling on the floor and he felt more secure when Shigeru wrapped his arms around his waist pulling him closer.

Kazuma smiled as Shigeru did in a reassuring way, 'Shigeru…' He continued to gaze in the other teen's violet eyes, his mind going through everything that had happened between the pink-haired teen and him… It was then that he thought of something. Something that he really wanted to know… "Shigeru?"

"Yes, what is it Kazuma?" Shigeru asked with a questioning look directed at the brunet's caramel eyes.

Kazuma knew that it was stupid but he really, _really_ wanted to know… When? "Shigeru… When…" Kazuma hesitated for a while but he continued, "When did you… you know, started to, um, like me… I mean, I never really noticed it before so, I'm really kind of curious about it…"

Shigeru thought for a moment, 'When _did_ it start…?' He took a deep breath before he began, "…Hmm… I… I don't really recall when, Kazuma… During the Finals of the Newcomers Battle maybe? I'm not really sure… but all I know is during the whole Yakitate 9 thing, I got to know you a bit more and well, I kinda started to like you back then… Especially, when we were against my half-brother… Even though, I was the only one who faced him that time, you gave me the strength to fight him… You even went out of the hospital and went to our lodging place even though you were sick and gave me the confidence not to give up and told me to do my best, remember… I'm sorry if I haven't shown it, I just didn't know how… Besides, I don't think that I realized that it was love until these past few weeks…"

"Really?" asked Kazuma.

"Yes. Really." Shigeru replied as he kissed the other teen on the lips

Kazuma pulled out of their kiss after a while, he then said to Shigeru as he cuddled up to him, "Shigeru, I'm still tired… Let's go back to sleep… Please…"

"Okay then, hold on tight…" Shigeru said as he slowly sat up and carried Kazuma, bridal style, towards his room and laid them both down on the bed. Kazuma immediately relaxed and tightened his hold around Shigeru's middle and rested his head under Shigeru's chin and then fell into deep slumber. Shigeru smiled at this and covered them both with the blanket. He then put his arm across Kazuma's smaller form and dozed off pulling the other teen closer to him...

**

* * *

**

_The next day…_

"Hello, Tsukino-san? Hai, it's me Shigeru… Look, I'm sorry but I won't be able go to work today since I have some documents to take care off… Well, yeah, it's sort of like that… Okay, thanks... Oh and by the way Kazuma said that he can't go to work today either… He said that he fell on his back yesterday and, well, his back is still kinda hurting from the fall… So he said that he'd just rest it for the day and hopefully get back to work tomorrow… Thanks so much for understanding Tsukino… Bye…" Shigeru then hung up the phone and looked towards his kitchen where Kazuma was currently located. The smaller teen was wearing some clothes that he had borrowed from Shigeru while he tried to cook in the kitchen. And by the way he looked, he was pretty much enjoying himself.

Shigeru entered his kitchen and found Kazuma happily stirring the batter that was for the pancake that he was going to make. Shigeru just smiled to himself as he placed his hand on the smaller teen's shoulder and looked at what the other teen had done to the batter.

"Enjoying yourself, Kazuma?" Shigeru asked.

Kazuma nodded happily, "I never knew this was so much fun! Can you teach me more of this?"

"Sure, Kazuma, why not? I've already called up Tsukino and told her that we won't be going to work today… I'll have all day to teach you…" Shigeru said as he moved towards his stove and lighted it and put the pan on the burner to heat it up.

"And what did she say?" Kazuma asked.

"She said that it was alright…" Shigeru replied as he went back to Kazuma.

"… Hey, Shigeru… What if they found out about this… us? Do you think that they'll be okay with it?" Kazuma finally asked the question that had bothered his mind since that morning as he continued to mix the batter.

"Hmm, I don't know…" Shigeru said as he embraced Kazuma from behind and rested his head on Kazuma's shoulder. "Most people don't agree to homosexual relationships... but I really don't think that it matters… As long as we've got each other everything will be alright… I don't really care of what other people might think…"

"… Shigeru... I think that you made a mistake there... Everything won't just be _alright_… I think the word should be: perfect…" Kazuma stated as he looked at Shigeru and received a gentle kiss on the lips from the other teen. He just smiled and leaned back to the other teen, putting down the spatula and leaving the batter. Everything is just so perfect right now… Nothing can be able to ruin this… He just wouldn't allow it… Everything that he needed and will ever need was right here with him; he wouldn't need anything else even if he tried… Shigeru will be the only thing that means something to him from now on, and he was sure that it was pretty much the same with Shigeru. He suddenly turned around in Shigeru's embrace and cuddled up to the other teen who seemed surprised at this but hugged him back as well.

"Shigeru…"

"Hmm?" came Shigeru's reply.

"I love you…" Kazuma said as he looked up to face Shigeru.

Shigeru just smiled, Kazuma was just so adorable. "... I'll say it one more time, Kazuma: I love you, all the time…"

_Tsukai furusareta "aishiteru" mo kimi wo omotte kuchi ni sureba  
Konna ni suteki na hibiki ni naru kimi dake no tame ni aru kotoba  
Hidamari de sunday arikitari no itsumo to onaji kyou wa sunday  
Itsu made mo nante sotto negau soshite kimi wa shaberitsuzukeru _

_Watashi no doko ga sonna ni suki na no? ikinari nandai wo kimi ga dasu kara  
Karite kita eiga hitomazu tomete majimaji to kimi wo miru yo _

_Mainichi mitetemo tarinai kurai sakihokoru egao ga daisuki desu  
Igai to kiyase suru gokujou bodei iu made mo naku daisuki desu _

_Sorette gaiken bakkari kanjin no nakami wa dou na no yo?  
Funman yarukatanai kimi ga hanaiki mo araku okoru kedo  
Hontou wa motto motto motto aru kedo mo  
Umaku wa ienain da naa kore ga  
Suki ni naru no ni ryuu wa iranai daro  
Sokora hen wa nazo tte koto de kanben shite _

_Tsukai furusareta "aishiteru" mo kimi wo omotte kuchi ni sureba  
Konna ni suteki na hibiki ni naru kimi dake no tame ni aru kotoba  
Hidamari de sunday arikitari no itsumo to onaji kyou wa sunday  
Nanigenai jikan ga sugite yuku soshite futari wa nagomitsuzukeru _

_Itsumo to onaji sunday  
Arikitari no sunday  
Demo tokubetsu na Sunday_

* * *

(1) koi – lover; I just thought that it was cute so I put it in… 

**BloodLust:** Finished! I hope that I did this fanfic justice, this is the first fanfic that I've made and finally ended and I hope that it was alright... And it consumed 17 pages in MS Word... And if anyone is wondering why I put 'Sunday' in the ending, well its coz I really love the song and its kinda fitting of some sort to the fic… -shrugs- sorry if I'm being such an idiot again… I **know** it's a crappy ending… Sorry... You can all kill me right now...


End file.
